horse racing doping scandal | Horse Racing Free Tips

Argueta, Assistant To Trainer Servis, Sentenced To ‘Time Served’

Henry Argueta, formerly the assistant to the now-imprisoned trainer Jason Servis, was sentenced to a prison term of “time served” and two years of supervised release after working out a cooperative plea bargain with prosecutors in the wide-ranging 2020 racehorse doping conspiracy case that has already netted several dozen convictions.

The sentencing paperwork filed Dec. 21 for Argueta's final judgment in United States District Court (Southern District of New York) stated that he pleaded guilty to three felony charges listed in a superseding information document in exchange for other charges in a separate indictment being dropped.

The court records did not state how much time Argueta had already served.

The judgment also stated that Argueta must pay more than $28 million in restitution to an undisclosed list of victims. The documentation did not list a specific payment plan.

It is common for convicts of federal crimes who don't have the means to pay exorbitantly large restitutions to never pay more than a fraction of the court-ordered amount, although the penalty is never legally forgiven and the government can continue to try and collect it up to 20 years after a criminal's sentence expires.

Separately, Argueta's court filing stated that, “As a result of the offenses charged in Counts One and Two of the Information, to which the Defendant pled guilty, a money judgment in the amount of $311,760 [representing] the amount of forfeitable property involved in the offenses charged [is] jointly and severally liable with the Co-Defendants…”

But the documentation went on to state that because Servis, who got sentenced to four years in prison on July 26, has already paid that $311,760, “the Government shall credit the Servis Payment against the Money Judgment and the [Argueta] Money Judgment will be fully satisfied.”

Argueta's name surfaced on multiple occasions in a trove of wiretapped evidence that prosecutors had planned to introduce at trials.

But the feds didn't have to use the vast majority of those taped telephone phone conversations and intercepted text messages, because the highest-profile defendants in the case all ended up cutting guilty-plea deals instead of taking their chances facing a jury.

On July 10, 2019, Servis and Argueta were listed in a transcript allegedly discussing concerns about getting caught administering performance-enhancing drugs to Thoroughbreds.

Servis: Be careful man, Henry, with that. Really careful, because …
Argueta: Yes?
Servis: Because we are getting really good.
Argueta: Yeah, no.
Servis: All we need is a problem like that. Oh, with [Maximum Security crossing the finish wire first but getting disqualified for interference in the] Derby and [expletive]. Oh, my God!

Argueta and Servis then discussed the likelihood that authorities would be on the lookout for them to see if they were doping horses.

Argueta: Yeah, but what are they going to see? Nobody going to see nothing. What are they going to see? Nothing.
Servis: Right.
Argueta: We don't do nothing–ha, ha! They can look wherever they want to look.

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Fishman Trial Enters Homestretch

New York federal prosecutors in the horse-doping trial of Dr. Seth Fishman neared the finish line Jan. 28, bringing their case to a close after calling 11 witnesses and presenting evidence from FBI wiretaps.

“At this time the government rests its case,” prosecutor Anden Chow told U.S. District Court Judge Mary Kay Vyskocil on the trial's eighth day.

A short time later, the defense rested their case without calling any witnesses or putting the accused veterinarian on the stand to testify.

Without the jury present in the Manhattan courtroom, Vyskocil told Fishman he had a right to testify, but was under no obligation.

“So, it's your decision not to testify Dr. Fishman?” the judge asked.

“That is correct,” Fishman said.

“And it's your decision alone not to testify?”

“That is correct,” Fishman said.

The conclusion of testimony sets the stage for the next phase of the trial: closing arguments followed by jury deliberations after the judge issues instructions on the law. Eight women and four men comprise the jury.

Vyskocil told both sides that summations would commence Jan. 31.

Fishman, 50, was one of 27 horse racing insiders arrested in March 2020 in the biggest horse doping bust in U.S. history. Those charged included two prominent trainers, Jason Servis, who is awaiting trial, and Jorge Navarro, who pleaded guilty and was sentenced to five years in prison. Fishman is the first to go to trial in the case.

Prosecutors have accused Fishman of manufacturing illegal performance-enhancing drugs that harness and Thoroughbred trainers, including Navarro, administered to their horses to win lucrative purses and enhance their reputation. Prosecutors say those charged acted without regard to horse welfare, risking breakdowns and death.

Prosecutors allege that Fishman was especially sought after because he claimed that his products wouldn't appear in customary post-race testing.

Fishman is charged with two counts of conspiring to violate adulteration and misbranding laws. If convicted, he faces a maximum of 15 years in prison.

He went on trial Jan. 19 with Lisa Giannelli, who worked with him for 18 years. Vyskocil granted her a mistrial after her lawyer tested positive for COVID-19 Jan. 24.

Fishman contends that he carried out the accused activities in the good faith belief that he was practicing veterinary medicine.

On Friday, prosecutors set up a table in front of the jury box with dozens of boxes and bins containing vials of substances worth tens of thousands of dollars, seized at the time of Fishman's initial arrest in 2019. Prosecutors say the vials contained PEDs.

Additionally, Federal Bureau of Investigation agent Jarrett Concannon testified that during a search of Fishman's business in South Florida last month, he took photos of the same products stored on shelves.

Prosecutors say the search showed Fishman was in possession of PEDs in violation of his bail conditions.

The government's witnesses were a varied assortment. They included a woman who worked for Fishman and his Equestology business in South Florida for five years and testified after agreeing to a non-prosecution agreement with prosecutors.

They also included Ross Cohen, a defendant in March 2020 indictments. He agreed to flip as part of a cooperation deal with the feds.

Also testifying were two current trainers, Adrienne Hall who has small stable of harness horses in Florida, and Jamen Davidovich, who ran principally in Ohio in 2021 and has a start this year in New York.

Each testified Fishman supplied them with PEDs for their horses after reaching out to the veterinarian a few years ago.

Jurors also heard testimony from three FBI agents and two experts in veterinary medicine.

As part of their case, prosecutors played excerpts from more than two dozen wiretaps that captured Fishman discussing horse doping and bragging that his products weren't “testable.”

“Don't kid yourself,” Fishman is heard saying to an unidentified male individual on the other end of the line in a wiretap from Apr. 15, 2019. “If you're giving something to a horse to make it better, and you're not supposed to do that, that's doping. You know, whether or not it's testable that's another story.”

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

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In Superseding Indictment, Servis Faces Far More Serious Charges

Jason Servis and two veterinarians involved in the scheme to allegedly drug race horses could be spending considerable time in prison after the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York released a superseding indictment Friday that includes the charge of Mail and Wire Fraud Conspiracy. The maximum sentence under federal guidelines for the charge is 20 years.
Five individuals named in the original indictment were not included in the superseding indictment, including former Servis assistant Henry Argueta. That could lead to speculation that the five are cooperating with law enforcement authorities.

In addition to Servis, the wire fraud charges were directed at Alexander Chan and Kristian Rhein. According to the indictment, the two conspired with Servis to administer misbranded and adulterated PEDs.

“It is likely the expansion resulted from additional investigation, possibly as a result of a potentially cooperating witness,” said Frank Becker, an attorney specializing in equine law in Lexington, Ky., who is unconnected to the case.

“Notably, the superseding indictment alleges that at least some of the doping scheme commenced as far back as 2002 when Seth Fishman allegedly began manufacturing PEDs. Another significant allegation is that Seth Fishman provided the use of his veterinary license to distributor Lisa Giannelli to sell prescription veterinary `without a valid prescription.'”

The superseding indictment lays out a picture where Servis, Chan and Rhein were involved in a scheme whereby they obtained money and property by “means of false and fraudulent pretenses.” Specifically, the indictment charges that fraudulent bills were sent to owners, falsely billing them for the “undisclosed use of adulterated and misbranded drugs on the owners’ horses.”

In the original indictment, it was alleged that Servis, Chan, Rhein and Argueta conspired to dope racehorses using illegal drugs, including the PED SGF-1000. In a call intercepted between Servis and Navarro, Servis allegedly said “I’ve been using it on almost everything.”

In addition to Argueta, the individuals who were left out of the superseding indictment are Gregory Skelton, Nick Surick, Chris Marino and Ross Cohen.

The original indictment charges that Skelton is a veterinarian who misbranded and adulterated PEDs and Cohen acted as a distributor of PEDs. Surick and Marino are harness trainers who, according to the indictment, were also involved in receiving and administering misbranded and adulterated PEDs. Of the four, Surick was facing the most serious penalties as the charges against him included two counts of obstruction. The maximum penalty for obstruction is a sentence of 20 years.

Servis was among 27 individuals indicted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District in March after a probe into a “widespread, corrupt scheme by racehorse trainers, veterinarians, PED distributors and others to manufacture distribute, and receive adulterated and misbranded PEDs and to secretly administer those PEDs to racehorses under scheme participants’ control.”
“The superseding indictment adds that some of the defendants, specifically Jason Servis, Kristian Rhein, and Alexander Chan, falsified billing records to cover up the administration of SGF-1000 and Clenbuterol, such as by falsely labeling such charges as `stable supplies’ to deceive horse owners and regulators. Because these deceptive bills were mailed or electronically sent, the Superseding Indictment added a charge of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and wire fraud,” said Becker.

Another significant expansion of the original indictment is a claim for `forfeiture’ against almost all of the alleged conspirators, rather than just trainer Nicholas Surick as in the original indictment. In fact, Surick (and four others) are not even included in the superseding Indictment, which may be a result of either a determination that there is insufficient evidence or that there has been an agreement with the prosecutors. In the original indictment, the three were charged with one count of Drug Alteration and Misbranding Conspiracy, which carries a maximum sentence of five years.

The new charges against Servis are the first developments in the case to be made public after Scott Robinson and Sarah Izhaki pled guilty to lesser charges, also raising the possibility that they are cooperating with authorities.

The superseding indictment did not include any new charges against high-profile trainer Jorge Navarro, who still faces two counts of Drug Alteration and Misbranding Conspiracy.

No new names surfaced in the superseding indictment, which replaces the original indictment filed Monday, March 9.

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