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Indicted Harness Trainer Who ‘Flipped’ Says He Bought PEDs From Fishman Employee

It was nearly two years ago when former harness horse trainer Ross Cohen was among 27 trainers, veterinarians and others snared in the largest horse doping prosecution in U.S. history.

In a New York courtroom on Wednesday, Jan. 26, Cohen surfaced on the stand as a key government witness against Dr. Seth Fishman – the first of those arrested in the case in March 2020 to go to trial on charges of conspiring to violate adulteration and misbranding laws.

As Fishman observed from the defense table, Cohen testified that when he was training horses at Yonkers Raceway years ago, he purchased performance-enhancing drugs from Lisa Giannelli, who worked as a distributor for Fishman and the veterinarian's Florida-based drug manufacturing business Equestology.

Cohen, 50, of upstate New York, testified he discussed with Fishman a product called “Frozen Pain.”

“He said it takes away pain and stops horses from getting tired in race,” he said. “It had a performance-enhancing effect.”

Cohen testified about another conversation with Fishman in which he complained that Frozen Pain worked great for some horses when they were racing in his stable but not so much other horses.

Cohen said the drug's inconsistency upset him.

“He said it was hard to keep it stable and to get good employees to make it,” the witness testified, referring to Fishman. “He said he was going to stop making it.”

During his testimony Cohen said he agreed to flip in June of 2020. He pleaded guilty to conspiracy and agreed to testify on behalf of the government in exchange for leniency at sentencing. Prosecutors kept the plea deal under wraps until Wednesday. Prosecutors say Fishman produced performance-enhancing drugs that trainers administered to horses to boost their chances of winning races. They said the doping put racehorses at risk of breakdowns and death. They said Fishman sought to create drugs that couldn't be detected in post-race testing.

As he was questioning Cohen, prosecutor Andrew Adams introduced photos of six of those charged in the case and had the witness identify them. One of the photos was that of former top trainer Jorge Navarro, who has since pleaded guilty to conspiracy. He was sentenced in December to five years in prison.

After Cohen identified Navarro, Adams played for the jury a video of the Navarro-trained sprinter X Y Jet winning the $2.5 million Golden Shaheen (G1) in Dubai in 2019. The video shows an exuberant Navarro celebrating the victory in the paddock.
Adams next had the jury read a text Fishman sent to Navarro and the response he got.

“Congratulation, just saw the race,” Fishman's text read.

“Thank you, boss. You're a big part of it,” Navarro replied.

Cohen admitted to a checkered past when he was a harness trainer. He served suspensions for drugs and had been barred from racing at Monticello raceway and Yonkers. He was eventually allowed to return to Yonkers.

In the plea agreement, Cohen admitted to fixing races.

“I paid drivers for somebody to hold their horses back in races,” he testified.

Maurice Sercarz on cross-examination sought to suggest that Cohen had turned on Fishman to save his own skin.

“Who decides if you're telling the truth?” the lawyer asked.

“I assume the government,” Cohen responded.

The trial's sixth day in U.S. District Court in Manhattan also featured testimony from Dr. Cynthia Cole, director of the racing lab at the University of Florida, where she oversaw drug testing of horses competing at Florida tracks.

Cole was called as expert witness to identify the drugs Fishman was peddling and if they would be performance enhancers if administered to horses when they raced. In her opinion, Fishman's products were PEDs.

During her time on the stand, Cole was asked to comment on a Fishman product called Serenity. She said it appeared to be a sedative.

It was her testimony that it may seem counterintuitive to administer a sedative to a horse before a race but she explained that some horses, especially young horses, can be high-strung.

“The ability to produce a mild sedative that could take the edge off, if you will, could help a horse perform better in a race,” she told the jury.

The trial resumes Jan. 27.

The Thoroughbred industry's leading publications are working together to cover this key trial.

The post Indicted Harness Trainer Who ‘Flipped’ Says He Bought PEDs From Fishman Employee appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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‘Of Course, It’s Doping’: Fishman Trials Focuses On Wiretaps, FDA Expert

The jury in the federal horse-doping trial of Seth Fishman on Tuesday, Jan. 25, heard a portion of a Federal Bureau of Investigation wiretap in which the veterinarian discusses whether the drugs he sold to horse trainers involved doping.

On the call with Fishman was an unidentified individual who wants to know more about the drugs.

“But it's not doping, yeah?” that person asks, according to a transcript of the April 5, 2019, intercepted call.

“Of course, it's doping. The question is, is it testable doping?” Fishman responds according to a transcript.

“Ah test,” says the individual.

“No, no, no, what I'm trying to say is, any time you give something to a horse, that's doping,” Fishman responds. “Whether or not they test for it is another story. This is stuff people are using all the time, so no, they're not testing for it. You know, but don't kid yourself. If you're giving something to a horse to make it better and you're not supposed to do that.”

“Yeah sure,” the individual says.

“That's doping,” Fishman says in response. “You know, whether or not it's testable, that's a different story.”

The conversation began with Fishman asking the caller about his plans to purchase more “stuff.”

Fishman then says, “You know, I have people that set world records using stuff, and then their competition uses the same stuff and the horse doesn't even show up to the track.”

The wiretap was played in court on the fifth day of the trial as testimony resumed after a day's interruption. On Jan. 24, Judge Mary Kay Vyskocil declared a mistrial in the case of Fishman co-defendant Lisa Giannelli. Giannelli's attorney tested positive for COVID-19 before court on Monday, warranting the mistrial.

As the day began Tuesday, Vyskocil announced a ruling rejecting a motion for a mistrial by Fishman's attorneys. They moved for a mistrial because of the positive COVID-19 test they believed upset the flow of the trial and because of remarks the attorney for Giannelli made during openings statements last week that they said could prejudice the jury against their client.

That attorney, Louis Fasulo, had described his client as the “proverbial sheep” to Fishman's “sheep master.”

Vyskocil countered that Fishman had not been prejudiced. “Dr. Fishman has received a fair trial so far and will continue to receive a fair trial,” Vyskocil said.

Fishman was one of more than two dozen members of the horse racing community charged in sweeping indictments in March 2020 with conspiring to dope horses at race tracks across the country with illicit performance-enhancing drugs that wouldn't show up in post-race testing. Those charged included top trainers Jason Servis, who awaits trial, and Jorge Navarro, who pleaded guilty to conspiring with others to dope horses and was sentenced to five years in prison.

Fishman is charged with two counts of conspiring to violate drug adulteration and misbranding laws. He faces a maximum of 15 years in prison if convicted.

As part of their case, prosecutors allege Fishman accepted tens of thousands of dollars from Navarro in exchange for untestable drugs.

On Tuesday, prosecutors called Dr. Jean Bowman, veterinary medical officer in the division of surveillance for the FDA, as a government expert witness.

During her testimony, prosecutor Sarah Mortazavi introduced into evidence photos taken on the day of Navarro's arrest in 2020 that showed him in possession at his Florida home of four alleged PEDs that came from Fishman.

Mortazavi drilled down on those drugs, named BB3. The indictment described BB3 as a customized “blood building” PED that when combined with intense physical exertion thicken a horse's blood. A horse doped with BB3 ran the risk of a heart attack, the indictment said.

The photo of BB3 seized by the FBI from the Navarro residence shows only the product's name on the bottle.

Bowman testified that BB3 had not been approved by the FDA and that she could find no studies in an FDA database about BB3 and its effectiveness and safety to horses.

Bowman also told the jury that the label on the BB3 bottle should have contained more information to pass muster with the FDA. She said the label should have contained the name of the prescribing veterinarian, how and when it should be administered, the identity of the manufacturer, and what precautions should be taken before administering it.

The doctor testified that BB3 and the other drugs Fishman sold should only be prescribed after a physical examination of the animal.

Prosecutors contend Fishman never did that before shipping his PEDs to buyers.

At one point during questioning, Mortazavi had Bowman read from an email Fishman sent to Giannelli on Jan. 5, 2019, that contained a list of drugs available from Fishman's South Florida business Equestology.

“BB3: would only let trusted clients have this,” Bowman quoted the email as saying.

Fishman's lawyers Maurice Sercarz and Marc Fernich will have an opportunity to cross-examine the FDA expert when the trial resumes Jan. 26.

The Thoroughbred industry's leading publications are working together to cover this key trial.

The post ‘Of Course, It’s Doping’: Fishman Trials Focuses On Wiretaps, FDA Expert appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Full Day of Testimony in Fishman Trial

A New York jury heard a full day of testimony Jan. 21 in the horse doping trial of Dr. Seth Fishman and Lisa Giannelli. The entire morning and most of the afternoon featured a second day of testimony from a woman who worked for Fishman at his Florida business Equestology for five years.

Courtney Adams, 34, testifying from Florida via video conference, told jurors that Fishman and Equestology were all about “testability.” That meant creating “product” that couldn't be detected in post-race testing by horse racing authorities, she said.

During her testimony in U.S. District Court in Manhattan, prosecutors showed an email in which a veterinarian who was a client of Equestology asked about one of the products, equine growth hormone, and whether it was testable.

“That was our biggest selling point, that he specialized in making product that wasn't testable,” Adams testified, referring to Fishman.

The witness, who had been an Equestology office manager and then a sales rep, said that Fishman told her there was a risk of regulators coming up with a test to detect the substance. If that happened, Fishman said he would have to create another product that would be undetectable, she said.

“That was the whole point of that product to be not testable,” Adams testified.

Fishman and Giannelli face conspiracy charges in a wide-ranging scheme to dope horses with performance-enhancing drugs to boost the treated horses' chances of winning races. Those charged include prominent trainer Jason Servis, who has maintained a not guilty plea and is awaiting trial. Others, such as trainer Jorge Navarro, have pled guilty and been sentenced.

Prosecutors say the accused were motivated by greed to win races and acted without regard to the welfare and safety of horses.

While on the stand, Adams admitted helping to mislabel products that Fishman created for clients around the country and in the United Arab Emirates. She said she also shipped vials of product without any labels.

Under questioning by prosecutor Andrew Adams, the witness said that she knew “in general terms” that some of those who purchased Fishman's drugs were horse trainers.

“He would discuss why they wanted them and why they were being used by them,” she testified.

“And did he say why they were being used by trainers?” the prosecutor asked.

“He said they were being used because they were untestable,” Adams replied.

The jury also heard the witness cite the names of some of the drugs Equestology sold.

Those products included Endurance, Bleeder, Hormone Therapy Pack, HP Bleeder Plus, and PSDS.

Adams testified that PSDS stood for Pain Shot Double Strength, describing it as a “double strength product for pain.”

She indicated she didn't know what the other substances were for.

Adams said she stopped working for Equestology in 2017.

“I was over it to be honest,” Adams testified. “I didn't want to do it anymore.”

As she left, Fishman asked her not to discuss their business with anyone, Adams noted.

“I said okay,” she said.

She said in 2018 investigators with the Food and Drug Administration approached her to ask about Fishman. She said she wasn't comfortable talking to them without a lawyer.

After Fishman, Giannelli, Servis, and about two dozen others connected to horse racing were indicted in March 2020 in the doping case, Adams said a friend sent her a link with a story about the arrests.

She said after reading it she contacted law enforcement.

“I read the story, and I realized they didn't have the whole story, and I felt obliged to give it to them,” Adams told the jury.

She said as a result of the information she provided, government lawyers offered her a non-prosecution agreement.

During cross-examination, Fishman's attorney Maurice Sercarz sought to suggest that Adams was motivated to contact law enforcement out of personal animosity against Fishman.

She admitted that before she left Equestology, Fishman had accused her of theft and using Equestology funds to purchase personal items.

She told Sercarz she was upset about those accusations “because they were false.”

During his cross-examination, Giannelli's attorney, Louis Fasulo, questioned Adams about whether she would work at a place that put horses in danger.

No was her response.

Adams also said she didn't think she was breaking the law when labeling products she said were mislabeled.

Toward the end of the day, Long Island retired Federal Bureau of Investigation agent Angela Jett took the stand to read from notes of an interview she conducted with Fishman in 2010.

Jett said she had interviewed Fishman as a potential government witness in a $190 million securities fraud case. That case involved a magnate named David Brooks and a body-armor company he owned on Long Island. Fishman worked for Brooks, an owner of Standardbred racehorses that competed in New York and elsewhere.

According to the notes, Fishman told Jett that he had supplied performance-enhancing drugs to Brooks, who administered them to horses before racing.

Brooks was found guilty in 2010 of charges connected to the fraud and died in prison while serving a 17-year prison sentence.

Under cross-examination by Sercarz, Jett acknowledged that her notes don't say whether Fishman learned of the doping at the time it occurred or “after the fact.”

He also pointed out that Jett's notes show that when Brooks asked Fishman to dope a horse, Fishman refused.

Fishman's admissions to Jett never led to charges.

The trial resumes Jan. 24.

The Thoroughbred industry's leading publications are working together to cover this key trial.

The post Full Day of Testimony in Fishman Trial appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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Horse-Doping Trial: Former Fishman Employee Cites Non-Testable Products

A New York jury heard a full day of testimony Jan. 21 in the federal horse doping trial of Dr. Seth Fishman and Lisa Giannelli.

The entire morning and most of the afternoon featured a second day of testimony from a woman who worked for Fishman at his Florida business Equestology for five years.