Felony Warrant Issued for Chapa

by T.D. Thornton

Jockey Roman Chapa remained at large on Tuesday despite the issuance of a Texas felony warrant for his arrest for allegedly using an illegal electrical device to stimulate Quiet Acceleration (Silent Picture) to a stakes win at Sam Houston Race Park on Jan. 17. 

“It is an open warrant but he is not in custody,” said Tebben Lewis, a spokesperson for the Harris County Sheriff’s Office. “He is not in our jail. I don’t know if he is on the run or anything. I know there is an active open warrant out for him, but that’s all I know.” 

The use of an outlawed electrical device to frighten a horse into running faster is nothing new in horse racing. But the way Chapa’s alleged misdeed came to light certainly is. 

According to probable cause paperwork filed by Texas Department of Safety peace officer Jeffrey Green, Chapa essentially implicated himself by contacting the track photographer the day after his stakes win, demanding the removal of what appeared to be a fairly standard inside-rail photograph from the SHRP website because it was a “bad” picture. 
Jack Coady, the track photographer, initially told Chapa he had no idea what the jockey was talking about. But upon closer inspection, an enlarged portion of that photograph revealed what appears to be a tan, palm-sized device with protruding prongs in Chapa’s partially closed left hand where the underside of his fist meets the reins. 

By Jan. 19, SHRP security officials were on the case and copies of the photograph depicting the area of detail were circulating online after the Paulick Report broke the story. Chapa was “summarily suspended” by the SHRP stewards and hasn’t ridden since. 

That same day, Green interviewed Chapa at the SHRP security office. “I showed the defendant the photograph of the defendant holding the machine in the defendant’s left hand…The defendant immediately stated that the photograph had been photo-shopped and someone was trying to frame him,” Green wrote. 

Chapa reportedly told Green that he knew what an illegal stimulating device looked like and what it was used for, and even admitted to having been caught using one in 2007. Chapa was suspended five years by New Mexico officials for that offense, but was granted a probationary license to return to riding in 2011. He had previously been suspended 19 months in Texas in 1993 for carrying an electrical device. 

“The defendant also gave me verbal consent to look at his cell phone, and I observed a copy of the photograph in his recently deleted files,” Green wrote. “The defendant did not have an answer as to why it was on his phone when I asked.” 

Green’s investigation led to the warrant being filed on Jan. 23. The specific charge is “unlawful influence on racing.” 
Neither Chapa, nor his agent, Toby Cathey, could be reached via phone for comment. 

Robert Elrod, the public information officer for the Texas Racing Commission, said the legal charges against Chapa will not have an effect on the commission’s ongoing investigation into the alleged use of the stimulating device. He said Chapa has appealed his suspension, and a hearing (to deal with the suspension appeal alone) has been scheduled for 
Feb. 9. 

Elrod said he could not recall an instance in which someone in Texas was convicted of an unlawful influence on racing. 
Chapa’s specific charge states that he intended to “use” the device to affect the outcome of the race. How stiff a criminal penalty he might face appears to hinge on whether prosecutors can prove actual use of the device. 

On the Texas Racing Commission website, Section 14.10 of the Texas Racing Act lists the possession of an electrical device as a Class A misdemeanor. Possession with “intent” to influence the outcome of a race is a state jail felony. Actual “use of” is a third degree felony. 

The difference is substantial: In Texas, Class A misdemeanors are punishable by up to one year in jail, a fine of up to $4,000, or both jail time and a fine. State jail felonies are punishable by 180 days to two years in state jail and a fine of up to $10,000. Third degree felonies are punishable by two to 10 years imprisonment and a fine of up to $10,000.