Mutuel Clerk Enters Not Guilty Plea in Alleged Bet Scheme

Deane Bailey, a Hollywood Park mutuel clerk, pleaded not guilty to charges of misdemeanor conspiracy and grand theft in connection with an alleged scheme involving a $1.38-million Pick Nine betting pool at Hollywood Park.

Bailey, along with James Farenbaugh, were arraigned in Inglewood Municipal Court on Tuesday. Farenbaugh did not appear and Judge John Lynch issued a bench warrant for his arrest with a bond of $9,000.

A pretrial hearing has been set for Bailey on June 25.

Bailey is said to have processed a Pick Nine ticket on June 14, 1989, and then canceled the ticket. The complaint says that Bailey then gave the ticket to Farenbaugh for $20. Farenbaugh is then said to have sold shares in the ticket to patrons in the grandstand.

When shareholders tried to cash the ticket, which they believed to be worth $1.38 million, they were told the ticket had been canceled and was worthless.

According to a transcript of a hearing held on July 8, 1989, by the California Horse Racing Board, Bailey, on other dates, had issued three large tickets and canceled them seconds later. One of those tickets was at Santa Anita. It is common for mutuel clerks to work at both Hollywood Park and Santa Anita.

The transcript was made public by the CHRB last week. Representatives of the CHRB say that they do not wish to draw any conclusions from the three similar incidents. There are no plans to file other charges against Bailey or Farenbaugh.

Bobby Taylor, the mutuel manager at Hollywood Park, said in the hearing that one incident had occurred May 7, 1989.

“This particular day, at 1:14 and 52 seconds, a $1,920 Pick Six ticket was issued at Mr. Bailey’s window and canceled 10 seconds later,” Taylor said.

On May 10, Taylor said Bailey’s log tape shows that Bailey issued a $2,880 Pick Six ticket at 12:59 and canceled it 12 seconds later.

A third incident had occurred on April 19, at Santa Anita.

“This was a mandatory payout day on the Pick Nine,” Taylor said. “At 12:05 and 20 seconds, Mr. Bailey issued a $2,880 Pick Nine ticket. Six seconds later it was canceled.”

Taylor said that none of the three other tickets was turned in to the mutuel department. It is policy that whenever a ticket is canceled that the ticket be torn and turned in at the end of day.

Until the transcript was made public, there had been no public report of the incident at Santa Anita on April 19. Cliff Goodrich, the chief operating officer of Santa Anita, was out of town and could not be reached for comment.

Neither Don Robbins, the general manager of Hollywood Park, nor Robert Courtney, the attorney representing Bailey, returned phone calls from The Times.

Farenbaugh, when testifying at the CHRB hearing, said that his purchase of a canceled ticket was prearranged with Bailey and that Bailey had originally asked for $100.

Farenbaugh testified that after giving Bailey the $20, “I think I told him I’d return with the rest of the money, the $80.”

Farenbaugh said that he wanted the ticket for tax purposes. Tax laws allow that uncashed tickets can be counted as losses to offset declared winnings. Farenbaugh characterized himself as an average player.

“I usually come to the track with between $500 and $1,000,” he said.

During the hearing, Courtney advised Bailey not to testify.

Courtney said that Bailey was a 20-year mutuel clerk and was also a retired deputy for the L.A. County Marshal’s office.

The conspiracy charge carries a penalty of either a year in jail or a $10,000 fine. The theft charge is punishable by six months in jail or a $1,000 fine.