Aranesp arrest in Kentucky

A St. Louis man is in the Fayette County Detention Center in Lexington, Ky., after being charged with three counts of drug trafficking, including two for allegedly trying to sell Aranesp, a form of erythropoietin (EPO), to undercover agents. The attempted sales took place once in April and again in late July.

Harnessracing.com has learned that Joey William McMahon, of St. Louis, Mo., was turned in to authorities after trying to sell large quantities of EPO to be used on racehorses. “He was pretty brazen about how he’s using it in Canada and all over the place, making all kinds of money,” harnessracing.com was told about McMahon.

According to sources, McMahon allegedly delivered $25,000 worth of EPO to the undercover agents, and also arranged for another shipment worth $150,000. The two other counts involve allegedly distributing oxycodone.

A test for EPO has been developed by the Lexington-based company Neogen. The Pennsylvania Equine Toxicology and Research Laboratory recently confirmed the test’s positive findings for EPO on three horses trained by Canadian Todd Gray, who was then suspended for 10 years and fined $100,000 by the Ontario Racing Commission.

McMahon could face as much as 30 years in prison for the oxycodone counts. Each count regarding the EPO calls for not more than three years imprisonment, not more than a $10,000 fine, and a term of supervised release of not more than three years.

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