Trainer Chad Brown pleaded guilty to a charge of harassment Monday morning in Saratoga Springs City Court. It was reduced from criminal obstruction of breathing, with which he was charged in August.
Brown pled guilty to the harassment charge before judge Francine Vero. He will be sentenced to one year of conditional discharge and also issued an order of protection, according to a tweet from Mark Mulholland, a reporter for WNYT-TV in Albany. A clerk with the Saratoga Springs City Court could not confirm information around the disposition of the case by phone, but did state to Horse Racing Nation that Brown had been assessed a $370 fine.
Brown was arrested on Aug. 17 in Saratoga Springs after a woman accused him of choking her in his home. He was released the next day on US$2,500 bail. Brown continued to train horses at Saratoga after being charged and won his fifth leading-trainer title at the track.
The original charge, criminal obstruction of breathing, is a misdemeanor in New York. The lesser charge to which Brown pled guilty, harassment, is categorized as a violation in the state. Under New York law, a violation is not considered a crime, though it can be punished with a fine or up to 15 days in jail.
