They had deceived horse butchers and consumers by selling them meat unfit for human consumption, in particular from laboratory horses from the Sanofi farm: twenty-four defendants were sentenced on Tuesday in Marseille, for a vast fraud committed ten years ago.
Patrick Rochette, a meat wholesaler in Narbonne (Aude), to whom the Marseille criminal court attributed "
the main responsibility
", is the most heavily sentenced, with three years in prison, two of which are suspended, a fine of 15,000 euros and a five-year ban on carrying out any activity related to the equine industry.
The year of firm imprisonment will be served at home under an electronic bracelet, said Céline Ballerini, the president of the court.
Admitted fraud
During the three weeks of the trial, in January, Patrick Rochette, 68, had recognized the slaughter of horses from the Sanofi farm-laboratory, whose passport nevertheless bore the mention "definitively excluded from human consumption
"
.
The horse dealer admitted that he replaced the initial drug treatment sheet with a blank document.
"
The fraud is obvious and could jeopardize health security on national territory and abroad
", denounced Ms. Ballerini, referring in particular to these horses which had enabled Sanofi to develop antivenom serums.
However, an expert report ruled out any toxicological risk for consumers.
Sentenced to two years in prison, including six months to be served under an electronic bracelet, a five-year ban on exercising in the equine sector and a fine of 20,000 euros, Fabrice Daniel, a farmer and horse trader in the Gard, supplied to Sanofi these laboratory horses, then took them back, once reformed after several years, by buying them ten euros the animal.
These animals were then sold to Patrick Rochette.
The court pointed the finger at its “
exceptional profits
” and its “
contempt for health rules
”: “
It is a serious danger that you have run
”, scolded the president.
Regulatory failures
In its judgment, the court however specified to take into account the age of the facts as well as a "
certain wait-and-see attitude of the administration and the absence of clear instructions
" in the application of the European legislation in force from 2009.
With the exception of a Spanish horse dealer, who was absent during the hearings and sentenced to two years in prison, including one year, all the sentences handed down against the 21 other defendants are all covered by the suspended sentence and range from two to thirty months.
The heaviest penalize the touts of horses for Patrick Rochette or those who exported animals to Italy, Poland and Spain with false documents.