after twenty-nine years as a jockey, errico's career came to an end when he was indicted on race-fixing charges. in his 1980 new york trial in 2nd circuit court ("united states v. errico, 635 f. 2d 152"), the chief government witness was jockey josé amy who himself would be banned from new york racing for almost twenty-five years for his role in the scandal. amy testified that con errico paid him and other jockeys as much as $7,500 per race to hold back their horses. convicted, errico was fined $25,000 and sentenced to 10 years in prison. in poor health, in 1985 he was released from the federal correctional institution in sandstone, minnesota.