The next trial scheduled for a defendant in the federal doping case is off after Rick Dane, Jr., accepted a plea deal.
A letter filed by prosecutors on Feb. 11 indicated that the government extended a deal to Dane, and he has accepted. Dane is expected to formally enter a change of plea next week.
Dane, who was a harness trainer, had been the last defendant standing in the second trial grouping, after Dr. Rebecca Linke took a deferred prosecution agreement in December.
Dane's trial was originally scheduled to begin March 23. He is charged with one count of conspiracy to commit drug adulteration and misbranding and one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States. In the original indictment released in March 2020, Dane is characterized as having assisted Fishman in distributing his adulterated and misbranded products. He is specifically alleged to have asked Fishman to provide him with performance-enhancing drugs for trainee Glass Prince in February 2018, and to have asked Giannelli in 2019 about purchasing and delivering more misbranded and adulterated drugs.
A new trial date has yet to be set for Lisa Giannelli, the Seth Fishman employee whose trial was cut short in January after her attorney tested positive for COVID-19. Attorneys had discussed combining her trial with Dane's at the request of U.S. District Judge Mary Kay Vyskocil, but neither side was amenable to that. It remains unclear if her trial date could be impacted by the opening on the court's calendar left by Dane's plea change.
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