Penn National employee agrees to plead guilty to wire fraud

An employee of the racing office at Penn National Race Course in Grantville, Penn., has agreed to plead guilty to one count of wire fraud for accepting “money and other gratuities” from horsemen in exchange for information on the identities of horses that were entered in specific races, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced on Wednesday.

Craig Lytel, 60, was said by the prosecutor’s office to have accepted a $1,000 payment from a bank in Kentucky “allegedly in exchange for providing inside information on the makeup of horse races at Penn National so that the trainers would know the composition of the race and enter their horses in races in which they have a better opportunity to win.” The prosecutor’s office also said that Lytel accepted “dinners, gift cards, and golf outings” in exchange for information.

The maximum penalty for a federal wire-fraud charge is 20 years, though the sentence is likely to be far less punitive considering the nature of the offense.

Lytel is the latest of a group of people based at Penn National to be charged by Pennsylvania-based federal prosecutors over the last two years. The sweep has been led by the FBI and local federal investigators who have trained their sights on backstretch practices at the track for more than four years. The investigation, which has led to plea agreements in which individuals have pledged to assist in the wide-ranging probe, is still ongoing, the prosecutor’s office said.

Among those arrested and charged by the prosecutors have been five trainers, a clocker, and four veterinarians. The trainers and veterinarians were charged with crimes related to the misuse of medication, while the clocker was charged with accepting payments to falsify workout times. All have had their licenses revoked.