federal indictments | Horse Racing Free Tips

Harness Trainer Dane Enters Guilty Plea

Harness trainer Rick Dane Jr. became the latest of the indicted trainers, veterinarians and others in the federal investigation into racehorse doping to enter a guilty plea in federal court on Thursday, and has been ordered to pay a monetary judgement of $33,912.

Dane accepted a government plea deal on Friday, Feb. 11, and changed his plea from not guilty to guilty.

The agreement was made between Dane, his attorney, U. S. Attorney Damian Williams, and U. S. District Judge Mary Kay Vyskocil.

Several of the defendants who originally pled not guilty and who were awaiting trial have changed their plea to guilty, including Jorge Navarro, Kristian Rhein, Jordan Fishman, Marcos Zulueta, and Christopher Oakes, who, like Dane, was a harness racing trainer. Dane's New Jersey Horse Racing license was revoked in March, 2020, two days after the indictments were announced.

The post Harness Trainer Dane Enters Guilty Plea appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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A Look At Seth Fishman’s Client Lists

The Paulick Report, along with other industry publications, has acquired copies of two documents presented during the recently-concluded trial of former veterinarian Dr. Seth Fishman which prosecutors say contain lists of clients from Fishman's Equestology business.

Fishman was convicted this week of two counts of conspiring to violate adulteration and misbranding laws and the manufacture of performance-enhancing drugs intended for use in racehorses.

The documents list clients by last name. One is limited to those with New York addresses. (Fishman's trial was held in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.) The other is alphabetized by last name and includes zip codes from a variety of states and a few Canadian postal codes. Street addresses and cities have been redacted, with zip code and state data remaining.

The list includes a number of people who were also indicted in March 2020 for their roles in what prosecutors say was a widespread network of drug suppliers, distributors and end users using adulterated and misbranded products to dope Thoroughbred and Standardbred racehorses. Thomas Guido/Guido Stable, Ross Cohen, Carl Garofalo, Tony Poliseno, Rene Allard, and Richard Banca are all on the list.

Garofalo entered a guilty plea in June 2021 to one count of adulteration and misbranding and was ordered to forfeit $6.7 million. He has yet to be sentenced. The other defendants have pleaded not guilty.

A number of harness trainers and stable names appear on the list, as do the names of several veterinarians, and a few Thoroughbred racing connections.

Jeff Gural, owner of the Meadowlands, indicated to the Paulick Report he is making inquiries with each harness trainer on the list to find out what specifically they were purchasing from Fishman and when.

“Everyone told me I was wasting my time and money trying to clean [racing] up so I just assume everyone thought it was business as usual and there was no risk,” Gural wrote in an email. “Obviously, they were wrong.”

The dates on the lists indicate they were pulled in February 2020, but it's not clear whether they are limited to client accounts that were active or contained historical data. The lists also do not indicate what the clients were purchasing or whether they were the end users of the products. While prosecutors say Fishman was not actively practicing veterinary medicine, he was licensed as a vet and could have provided legitimate, legal treatments in addition to or instead of the illegal products he was found guilty of making and distributing.

See the general list here.

See the New York-specific list here.

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Jury Selection Still In Progress After First Day Of Fishman/Giannelli Trial

The Jan. 19 selection of jurors for the federal horse-doping trail of Dr. Seth Fishman and Lisa Giannelli was extended into at least a second day when only 37 of 75 potential jurors were questioned inside a lower Manhattan courthouse.

U.S. District Court Judge Mary Kay Vyskocil called for an end to the marathon nine-hour session at about 6 p.m. ET, ordering the jurors who had yet to be interviewed to return to the same Southern District of New York court by 9:30 a.m. Jan. 20.

The interview process consisted of 72 questions posed to the possible jurors, asking about a wide topic of subjects, including their knowledge of horse racing, ownership of pets, gambling, medications, feelings about veterinarians, and their background. These questions were asked to learn if any of them had personal conflicts that would prevent them from viewing the court case fairly and impartially.

Nine of the persons interviewed Wednesday were excused for a variety of reasons.

Of the 37 questioned, the only potential juror who said he follows horse racing closely at the present time was excused after he voiced concerns about judging the case without a bias.

Fishman and Giannelli are facing federal charges for allegedly working through a company called Equestology to sell adulterated and misbranded performance-enhancing drugs to clients in the horse racing industry.

Fishman and Giannelli are part of the March 9, 2020, indictments that also snared trainers Jorge Navarro and Jason Servis. Fishman is charged with two counts of conspiracy to commit drug adulteration and misbranding while Giannelli is facing one count of misbranding conspiracy.

The post Jury Selection Still In Progress After First Day Of Fishman/Giannelli Trial appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Ahead Of Trial, Fishman Gives Interview To Post: ‘I Believe I’m Practicing Sound Medicine’

Against the advice of his attorneys, Dr. Seth Fishman gave an extended interview to The Washington Post ahead of the start of his criminal trial in U.S. District Court, which begins Jan. 19. He said, among other things, that he has been unfairly targeted in the case.

Fishman portrayed himself to reporter Gus Garcia-Roberts as an animal lover whose products were therapeutic substances designed to help horses, and that the laws used to indict him are obscure and outdated.

“If I'm providing a safe alternative to what's in use — and will be used unless I provide a safe alternative — I believe I'm practicing sound medicine … And the fact that they may or may not be able to test for it as easily, I don't know how that makes it a crime,” Fishman told the Post, speaking of an EPO mimetic.

Fishman also said he believed he was targeted in the investigation, which many reports have indicated was spearheaded by a private investigative firm hired by The Jockey Club. He claimed that other guilty parties had been “spared” to “create an illusion of reform that can distract from more entrenched corruption.” Fishman claimed his connection to co-defendant Jorge Navarro was fairly tenuous compared to that of other veterinarians, and that two probably spoke for less than a collective hour in the time they knew each other.

Fishman has been involved in a federal case before, when he was called upon to testify against former Standardbred owner and client David H. Brooks. Brooks was indicted in 2007 for fraud, and court records revealed a conversation between Brooks and Fishman in which Brooks asked Fishman to create a pill that would create amnesia in a key witness in the case. An FBI report indicated Fishman had admitted he had sold drugs to Brooks for the purposes of pre-race doping, though Fishman contends that his words were misconstrued.

Fishman, who said he has stage three thyroid cancer, told the Post he's willing to take his chances in the case, though at times he becomes discouraged about his odds of beating the charges against him.

“My number got punched,” Fishman said. “So it's either real corrupt people trying to make an example out of me or God really hates me that much that it's, 'Hey, it's my lottery ticket to die.' ”