“The forfeiture sought here is not authorized by statute and is therefore unlawful in its entirety,” Fishman's attorney, Steven Kessler, stated in a Sept. 12 filing in United States District Court (Southern District of New York).

“The Preliminary Order of Forfeiture (POF) seeks a money judgment equal to the alleged value of the misbranded or adulterated products that form the basis for the criminal charges,” the filing continued. “It further seeks an order forfeiting substitute assets–i.e., property having no relationship to any criminal activity–up to the value of the money judgment.

“[But] the [relevant] statute does not authorize a money judgment equal in value to the misbranded products. Nor does it authorize the forfeiture of substitute assets if the misbranded products are no longer available….” the filing stated.

“Thus, the government's statutory remedy for the manufacture or introduction into interstate commerce of misbranded or adulterated products is limited to the confiscation of the products themselves. The POF exceeds and contravenes the statute. It is therefore unlawful and must be rejected….

“If the POF actually sought 'forfeiture…of any and all drugs that were adulterated or misbranded by the Defendant' for introduction into the stream of interstate commerce, the POF would be lawful….” Fishman's filing stated.

“Misbranding is not a forfeiture crime. The misbranding statute under which the government seeks forfeiture against Dr. Fishman, 21 U.S.C. § 334, only permits the government to confiscate the misbranded or adulterated products themselves and any equipment used to manufacture those products. Nothing more,” the filing stated.

Fishman's filing further argued that “Congress has prescribed monetary penalties for introducing misbranded and adulterated products into the stream of interstate commerce. Those penalties, however, are fines, not forfeitures of proceeds,” and are capped at $1 million for certain violations.

Fishman was indeed fined $250,000 after prosecutors introduced evidence showing that his drug-peddling business earned millions of dollars a year. Fishman is also jointly responsible for $25 million in restitution along with other convicted co-conspirators. Neither of those monetary orders were questioned in Fishman's formal objection to the forfeiture.

The filing continued: “On a few occasions, a court has permitted forfeiture of proceeds or facilitating property or a money judgment forfeiture where there is an allegation of a misbranding violation. Those decisions, however, permitted such relief based on other criminal charges, bundled with the misbranding violations, that specifically authorize forfeiture, such as wire fraud or money laundering, none of which were even alleged against Dr. Fishman, let alone proven, here.”

In summation, the filing stated, “It has never been alleged or shown that Dr. Fishman 'actually acquired' any tainted property as a result of any crime, let alone more than $13 million.”

A separate legal filing from Sept. 8 noted that Fishman has been in transit within the federal prison system from New York to Florida, and that because of COVID-19 restrictions related to his movement, his attorney has been largely unable to speak with him.

“He has [been in transit to] Philadelphia and Tallahassee (and possibly other venues) before arriving [Sept. 7] in Miami. As the Court knows, upon reaching each facility, a prisoner is quarantined and must go through strict COVID protocols before being permitted phone privileges, even with his counsel.

“Because of this, I have been able to speak to Dr. Fishman just once while he was in transit, and that call was brief. We have made substantial efforts to speak with him since, but, through no fault of mine or the Bureau of Prisons, that has not yet happened. I am hopeful that, now that Dr. Fishman has arrived at his destination, communication will be easier to facilitate,” the Sept. 8 filing stated.

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So when federal investigators began compiling evidence that led to a nationwide series of arrests in a widespread racehorse drugging crackdown in March 2020, Garcia was considered fair game for her alleged role in the pipeline of purportedly performance-enhancing drugs.

Charged with two felony counts involving conspiracies to commit drug alteration and misbranding and defrauding the United States government, in Garcia tried in 2021 to get a federal judge to suppress the evidence obtained from searches of her car and phone. It didn't work.

Now Garcia, 43, wants to join many of the 30 other defendants in the case who have either already changed their pleas or been found guilty by trial. On July 29 she requested a hearing before the judge to do explain why she wants to flip from “not guilty,” and that request was swiftly accommodated with an Aug. 1 court date.

Judge Mary Kay Vyskocil will preside over the hearing. She's the same judge who wrote the order that denied the suppression of evidence.

“Garcia argues that the physical search of her car, pursuant to a search warrant, was invalid because the application for the warrant contained 'stale' evidence,” Vyskocil wrote last year. “The Court rejects this argument because the affidavit for the warrant presented evidence that Garcia was long involved in an ongoing conspiracy.”

“The affidavit in support of the warrant for Garcia's car detailed her long-term relationship with Navarro and ongoing involvement with members of his doping scheme. It described at least six instances over the span of four months in which Garcia discussed with Navarro administering prohibited substances to racehorses,” Vyskocil wrote.

“The affidavit acknowledged that Garcia's relationship with Navarro deteriorated in early 2019,” Vyskocil wrote. “It explained that, nevertheless, Garcia remained in touch with other members of Navarro's network, including his assistant trainer.

“In the light of the evidence of Garcia's longstanding and continuing involvement in a doping operation, there was probable cause to search her vehicle, notwithstanding her personal break with Navarro,” Vyskocil wrote.

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The sentence is the longest meted out in the case that led to charges against 31 individuals, including prominent trainers Jorge Navarro and Jason Servis. Fishman is the 11th to be sentenced, which includes Navarro. Most of the others have pleaded guilty and await sentencing. Servis faces trial next year.

Fishman, who has been behind bars since his conviction five months ago on two counts of conspiracy to commit drug adulteration and misbranding, appeared in court in prison garb and addressed the court before being sentenced. Prosecutors say that over 20 years, Fishman supplied illegal performance-enhancing drugs to hundreds of trainers, including Navarro, who pleaded guilty last year and was sentenced to five years in prison.

“I really have to apologize for what I did,” the 51-year veterinarian said. “There's no excuse for my behavior.”

In a rare admission, Fishman conceded violating the law and conspiring with others.

“I should have never pushed the envelope and helped trainers,” he said.

He told Judge Mary Kay Vyskocil he now lacked any desire to “practice medicine” on animals.

“I have no desire to make another substance for a racehorse again,” Fishman said as his family looked on from the gallery.

Fishman concluded his brief remarks by telling the judge that whatever sentence she imposed, “10, 15, or 20 years, I just want to be a better person.”

He showed no emotion as the sentence was handed down.

In addition to his prison time, the veterinarian will be held jointly responsible for $25 million in restitution along with Navarro and other co-conspirators.

The restitution represents Navarro's total purse winnings during from 2016 to 2020.

In addition, Fishman must forfeit $13.5 million, which is what he earned from his business of manufacturing and distributing his performance-enhancing substances which prosecutors say were designed to evade detection in post-race testing.

His sentence also includes a $250,000 fine. Prosecutors introduced evidence showing that Fishman's business earned millions of dollars a year.

Vyskocil told Fishman his actions misled racing regulators and drug regulators, as well as others.

“You misled competitors of your clients and the betting public,” she said.

She told him that as a veterinarian, “you enjoyed a special position of trust and you abused that trust.”

The judge said the PEDs Fishman manufactured were harmful to racehorses because they were designed to push them beyond their natural abilities.

She said that in addition to putting at risk horses that were doped with his PEDs, Fishman put at risk the other horses who ran in the race and jockeys who rode those horses and could have been hurt if a horse broke down.

She noted that Navarro paid Fishman credit in a text after winning the 2019 $2-million G1 Dubai Golden Shaheen at Meydan Racecourse with X Y Jet and that the horse died less than a year later.

“To say there was no risk to horses is just not accurate,” she said.

Vyskocil told Fishman that his motive was greed and that, up until the sentencing, there had been a complete lack of remorse on his part.

Vyskocil said an 11-year sentence was warranted given the sentences of other defendants.

She also said she hoped it would act as a general deterrence.

“I know this case has been followed extensively in the racing industry. It is my hope that the sentence acts as a general deterrent to those who might be engaging in the same scourge of criminality.”

Prosecutors had recommended a sentence of 10 to 17 1/2 years. Fishman faced a maximum of 20 years in prison under federal sentencing guidelines.

Prosecutor Sarah Mortazavi told Vyskocil that a significant sentence was warranted given that Fishman had shipped his illegal PEDs all over the country to hundreds of trainers.

“It was all designed to help a competitor get an illegal edge,” she said.

During her remarks, Mortazavi said Fishman's claims at trial that as a veterinarian he cared about animals was a “self-serving myth.”
Fishman attorney Maurice Sercarz appealed to the judge for a sentence of less than 10 years.

He said Fishman should be given leniency because of his client's psychiatric disabilities, which he said were “substantial.” He added that Fishman suffers from acute anxiety, depression and had been diagnosed with a bipolar disorder.

Fishman missed the last two days of his trial after being admitted to a psychiatric hospital.

The proceeding ended with Vyskocil telling Fishman that she heard what he said about wanting to be a better person.

“Hopefully you'll be getting well,” she said. “You do have some demons.”

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On Tuesday a federal judge granted Tannuzzo a swift July 7 hearing to explain his reasons for wanting to change his initial “not guilty” plea.

Tannuzzo, 50, who had 11 horses under his care and had been racing at Aqueduct at the time of his March 9, 2020, arrest, made headlines 24 hours later by steadfastly declaring his innocence and maintaining that the New York State Gaming Commission shouldn't have suspended his license after learning he had been booked by the feds on two felony charges related to conspiracies and drug misbranding.

Tannuzzo told Daily Racing Form at that time that he was being targeted by the feds because his “best friend” was the trainer and high-profile defendant Jorge Navarro. His two conspiracy charges were related to Tannuzzo picking up a package of purported performance-enhancing drugs from Navarro's residence and delivering it to him at Monmouth Park. Tannuzzo said that equated to “guilt by association.”

But since Tannuzzo made those initial statements in the press nearly 2 1/2 years ago, Navarro has admitted to doping his horses, changed his own plea to guilty, and is currently serving a five-year prison sentence. Tannuzzo's trial had been set to start Sept. 12.

According to a trove of wiretapped calls made public by federal prosecutors, on March 3, 2019, Navarro and Tannuzzo discussed modeling a doping program based on one Navarro had used on his elite-level stakes sprinter, X Y Jet.

A key takeaway from this discussion is that neither trainer seems sure of the name of the substance that would be administered.

Navarro: What I'm going to do is tap his ankles, put him in a series every week with SGF. I'm just trying [to get] my vet to give me a good price, man, because I want to [expletive] tap every week.

Tannuzzo: You're going to tap him every week?

Navarro: Yeah, with SGF. That's what I did with X Y Jet. I'm going to call my vet up north, my surgeon, to see how he did it to X Y Jet and that's it. Don't worry man, you're in good hands. Don't worry.

Tannuzzo: You're talking about the HGF, not the SGF.

Navarro: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Whatever. The SGF whatever. The thing that you sent me the syringe.

Tannuzzo: Yeah.

Navarro: Yeah, yeah. And [this undisclosed horse] is getting one of those SGF-1000 whatever. He's getting one today.

Within 10 months of that conversation, X Y Jet would die suddenly under Navarro's care, allegedly from cardiac distress that has never been fully documented or explained.

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But nearly four months later, Fishman still hasn't been incarcerated because the Bureau of Prisons (BOP) has twice lagged in telling him to which federal facility he's supposed to surrender.

On Monday, for the second time within the past six weeks, his attorney wrote a letter to the judge handling the case to inform him that it's now three days before the date Fishman is supposed to turn himself in, but he still hasn't heard anything from the BOP.

Patrick Joyce, Fishman's lawyer, had articulated essentially the same concern back on Apr. 25 in United States District Court (Southern District of New York). Fishman's original reporting date had been May 9, but the judge pushed the surrender date back one month because of the lack of assignment.

In general, prisoners who are scheduled for self-reporting get at least several weeks of lead time about where they're supposed to serve their sentences so they can make any necessary arrangements about getting there or inform the prison about medical needs.

“It is most important that Mr. Fishman be permitted to contact the facility to which he is designated prior to his incarceration,” Joyce wrote. “We are hoping to supply the facility with a list of foods to which Mr. Fishman is allergic. Mr. Fishman has a significant reaction to most fruits, and anything containing gluten. His exposure to these things causes a variety of serious health issues. (Severe GI issues, headaches, and anaphylactic reaction).

“For these reasons, Defendant respectfully requests that the Court adjourn Jordan's surrender date until August 9, 2022, before 2 PM, or until 14 days after he has been notified of his designation, whichever date occurs later,” Joyce wrote.

Back in October, Fishman, 64, had pleaded guilty to one count of adulterating and misbranding purportedly performance-enhancing drugs.
Jordan Fishman is unrelated to-but had a professional working relationship with-Seth Fishman, the convicted veterinarian who is awaiting his own sentencing from the same series of arrests and faces 20 years in prison for his role in the horse-doping conspiracy.

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The prosecution charged that Grasso's doping led to corrupt trainers collecting over $47 million in “ill-gotten purse winnings.”
He will be sentenced Sept. 6.

The plea was announced by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District Court, which, in a press release, took the occasion to also comment on a guilty plea entered last month from harness trainer Richard Banca.

“Grasso and Banca represent the corruption and greed of those in the racehorse industry looking to win at any cost,” said U.S. Attorney Damian Williams. “In peddling illegal drugs and selling prescriptions to corrupt trainers, Louis Grasso abdicated his responsibilities as a medical professional to ensure the safety and health of the racehorses he 'treated.' By injecting horses with unnecessary and, at times, unknown drugs, Grasso risked the lives and welfare of the animals under his care, all in service of helping corrupt racehorse trainers like Banca line their pockets through fraud. These latest convictions demonstrate the commitment of this Office and of our partners at the FBI to hold accountable individuals seeking to profit from animal abuse and deceit.”

In the indictment of Grasso, the government portrayed him as a central figure in a scheme to manufacture, distribute and receive adulterated and misbranded PEDs which were administered to horses. The government charged that Grasso and others delivered and received “at least thousands” of units of PEDs issued by pharmacies pursuant to invalid prescriptions.

According to the indictment, Grasso was manufacturing and/or selling “epogen,” pain shots of joint blocks, bronchodilators and a substance called “red acid.” Red acid is believed to reduce inflammation in joints.

It appears that Grasso's doping may have been restricted to harness racing as the indictment does not mention any illegal activities that involved Thoroughbred racing.

Grasso was among four individuals involved with harness racing included in an indictment that also listed trainers Conor Flynn, Donato Poliseno and Thomas Guido III. Poliseno and Guido are scheduled to be tried June 27. Flynn has cooperated with the government and recently testified against Lisa Gianelli, who was convicted of misbranding and drug adulteration.

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Federal prosecutors called their final witnesses May 3 at the New York horse doping trial of Lisa Giannelli.

The end of the government's case sets the stage for what could be the trial's climax: Giannelli's testimony in her own defense. The trial resumes May 4.

The government's witnesses Tuesday included Adrienne Hall, a harness trainer who also testified against veterinarian Seth Fishman, whom prosecutors believe Giannelli conspired with, and a retired special investigator with the Pennsylvania Racing Commission.

Hall testified that after first reaching out to Giannelli she sent Fishman a text saying that she wanted to know if he could help her come up with “pre-race options” for a horse she had just acquired.

On cross-examination, Hall was quizzed about her deal with prosecutors in which she agreed to testify in exchange for a non-prosecution agreement.

“I was committed to help regardless of signing an agreement or not,” Hall told Giannelli's attorney Louis Fasulo.

She said she was testifying “because I believe this will help the sport, it will help the horses and we really need that today.”

“You care about the integrity of racing?” Fasulo asked.

“Very,” Hall replied.

“You were part of the problem and now you're the remedy?” Fasulo said.

Hall insisted she wanted the sport to change.

“I bought two bottles of VO2 Max from Lisa Ranger,” Hall told the jury of eight men and four women.

Hall testified the sale took place in 2019 and that she knew Giannelli at the time by her married name.

Prosecutors have described VO2 Max as an adulterated and misbranded PED designed to help a horse respire.

They showed the jury a June 2019 invoice for two bottles of VO2 Max and the $158 price. The return address on the invoice was Giannelli's home.

At another point, Fasulo seized on Hall's answer to a question in which she denied using PEDs out of greed.

In fact, she lost money, she testified.

“You did it to lose money?” Fasulo said.

“I did it to keep my horses,” she said.

The investigator who testified was Rita Noblett, who retired in 2021.

She said contraband medications were seized from trainer Silvio Martin during a search of his pick-up truck that took place in February 2020 at Parx Racing.

“He was coming through the gate and I asked him to pull over,” she testified.

She said the substances were Banamine, Butaject, and Dexium. Also seized were syringes and needles.

The medications were contraband because the bottles had no prescription labels.

Prosecutors said the bottles were found in a box with a shipping label addressed to Fishman at Giannelli's address in Delaware.

Noblett testified it took her days to reach Martin to interview him.

“I tried to get a hold of him numerous times,” she told the jury. “He never responded.

She said when she finally spoke to Martin, he said Fishman was his veterinarian at his private farm.

Noblett testified she thought it was odd that Fishman, who was from Florida, was the vet for Martin's farm in Pennsylvania.

“It didn't make sense to me,” she testified.

On cross-examination, the witness testified that Martin's private farm would not have fallen under the jurisdiction of the Pennsylvania Racing Commission.

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“You're not supposed to administer any drugs on race day,” Flynn, 32, told the jury on the trial's fourth day in U.S. District Court in New York.
Flynn is testifying for the government as a cooperating witness–the second cooperator to flip and testify against Giannelli who is on trial on a charge of conspiring to misbrand and adulterate drugs. The other cooperator was Ross Cohen, also a former harness trainer.

Cohen testified last week that he purchased performance-enhancing drugs from Giannelli. He also testified on cross-examination that he fixed horse races.

Prosecutors charged Flynn and Cohen two years ago as part of the government's sweeping crackdown on horse doping. Other harness trainers have been arrested in the case as well as several Thoroughbred trainers, veterinarians and those prosecutors say were distributors.
Flynn and Cohen pleaded guilty and agreed to cooperate in a bid for leniency at their sentencings.

Flynn was indicted on charges of conspiring to secretly administer performance-enhancing drugs to horses under his care.

He testified he became a licensed New York harness trainer when he moved to New York in 2009. He said in 2015 Richard Banca hired him as an assistant trainer at the Mount Hope Trainer Center in Middletown. Banca was among those nabbed in the horse doping case. He pleaded guilty last month and is scheduled to be sentenced in September.

Flynn began testifying late in the day and his testimony was cut short when court recessed for the day. He returns to the stand May 3.

The day's first witness was Food and Drug Administration veterinarian Dr. Jean Bowman who testified as a government expert witness on new animal drugs.

During her testimony prosecutor Sarah Mortazavi asked Bowman about a document that was found on Giannelli's computer during an FBI search. It was an inventory list of drugs available for purchase.

The list included a product called HP Bleeder Plus along with a description that it could “achieve the same results without the same side effects of Lasix.”

Prosecutors have said HP Bleeder Plus was a performance-enhancing drug. They said veterinarian Seth Fishman, Giannelli's boss at Equestology, was the product's manufacturer. In February, a jury convicted Fishman of creating PEDs that were used to dope racehorses and that were designed to avoid being detected in post-race tests.

With Bowman on the stand Mortazavi played for the jury a wiretapped conversation from three years ago in which a customer ordered a bottle of HP Bleeder from Giannelli.

“Okay,” Giannelli is heard saying.

“Just mail it,” the customer says to her.

“Okay,” she says.

Bowman testified the bottles of HP Bleeder that the FBI seized in raids in Pennsylvania and New York violated FDA rules.

“It's missing the prescription legend, the name of the veterinarian,” Bowman testified. “It lacks information on the manufacturer and the ingredients.”

On cross-examination, Giannelli's attorney Louis Fasulo tried to get Bowman to say that a veterinarian could compound drugs if he wanted to create his own product.

“He'd have to meet certain conditions,” the witness responded. She said it would be okay only to prevent an animal's death or suffering or when no other drug was available.

“And suffering would be up to the discretion of the veterinarian,” Fasulo said.

Bowman disagreed.

“I think there's a pretty good definition for what is meant by suffering,” she testified.

The give and take continued as Fasulo continued to press the topic, suggesting it would be okay for a veterinarian to compound drugs, if it involved the use of two approved drugs.

Bowman testified in that instance you didn't need to compound anything. You could just administer the two drugs separately.

On re-direct examination, Mortazavi asked Bowman about her answers to the drug compounding questions.

“Animal suffering wouldn't be running slow?” she asked.

“No,” Bowman replied.

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The feds see it differently: “While there are notable foundational similarities between the two conspiracies, namely, the aim of moving drugs interstate to corruptly improve racehorse performance, the focus and scale of each conspiracy differed significantly,” stated the government's Mar. 30 filing in United States District Court (Southern District of New York).

Fishman was convicted Feb. 2 and faces 20 years in prison upon sentencing May 5. His “multiplicity“ motion from Mar. 8 aims to get his two convictions merged so that only a single sentence will be imposed.

Fishman, along with six other veterinarians, 11 trainers, and nine others, was charged in 2020 with being a key figure in an international network of purported performance-enhancing drug (PED) suppliers who allegedly conspired to dope racehorses in New York, New Jersey, Florida, Ohio, Kentucky, and the United Arab Emirates.

Count One alleged a four-year conspiracy (2016-20) with Jorge Navarro, Erica Garcia, Marcos Zulueta, Michael Tannuzzo, Christopher Oakes and unnamed others. Count Two alleged a broad, 18-year conspiracy (2002-20) with Lisa Giannelli, Jordan Fishman, Rick Dane, Jr., and unnamed others based on Fishman's Florida online drug-peddling portal.

“The Fishman and Navarro conspiracies differed in many major aspects,” the filing stated. “In short, the Navarro Conspiracy was focused on the administration and success of Navarro's doped racehorses, which were drugged using PEDs from a multitude of sources. The Fishman Conspiracy, by contrast, centered on Fishman's business operations through his company, Equestology, through which he created, produced, marketed, and sold a multitude of drugs…“

“Fishman's role was different in each conspiracy,“ the feds explained. “Fishman was a supporting player in the Navarro Conspiracy; he was not Navarro's sole supplier, as Navarro procured drugs from a number of different individuals, both veterinarians and laypeople. Nor did Fishman occupy a leadership role in the Navarro Conspiracy, as shown by all the evidence adduced at trial.

“Conversely, Fishman undeniably helmed the Fishman Conspiracy, with substantial direction and support from Giannelli, who independently managed significant aspects of the Fishman Conspiracy, and played no role in the Navarro conspiracy. Thus, any overlap in participants is of minimal relevance considering the leadership and membership of Counts One and Two.“

The timing of the crimes is another issue raised by prosecutors.

“The Fishman Conspiracy lasted for approximately two decades, while the Navarro Conspiracy took place in just a few years of that time period. The Government charged both conspiracies simultaneously; as such, this factor does not meaningfully support a double jeopardy challenge,“ the opposition filing stated.

“Even basic similarities in operations or goals–i.e., racehorse doping–do not necessarily collapse two separate counts into one where there are such striking differences in the goals and personnel involved in these operations.“

Fishman had argued differently: “As relevant here, a multiplicitous indictment 'charges the same crime in two counts,' when 'only one crime has been committed' in 'law and fact,“ his Mar. 8 filing stated. “The government thus presented an integrated, 'overall' agreement with one primary object–trafficking in prohibited substances designed to boost racehorse performance and avoid regulatory detection–that violated a 'single statute' over a lengthy period.“

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Fishman was found guilty Wednesday of two counts of conspiring to violate adulteration and misbranding laws and the manufacture of PEDs administered to racehorses, and faces up to 20 years in prison.

The statement stands in contrast to the policy of the United States Trotting Association, which said Tuesday that her USTA membership had been revoked per Article 1, §4 of the Association bylaws. USTA membership is not required to be granted a Pari-Mutuel racing license in New Jersey, thus she remains eligible to race per the New Jersey Racing Commission.

“We disagree with the USTA decision and we applaud Ms. Hall for coming forward,” said Meadowlands president Jeff Gural. “To penalize those who testify for the prosecution will only serve to further the already existing notion that saying something will only lead to problems for yourself. It will discourage the type of participation necessary to convict the indicted persons, as Ms. Hall's testimony has helped on this case.

“The lack of action by the USTA during this five-year effort on our part to get rid of the cheats along with their continued opposition to the HISA [Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act] legislation which, with some changes, is our only hope of keeping the chemists out is dangerous to Harness Racing. We have received no support from USTA or any of their members in trying to eradicate the drugs and those who use them from racing.”

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