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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The feds also recommended that the judge not use convicted trainer Jorge Navarro's five-year sentence-the most severe among prison terms meted out so far in this conspiracy-as a measuring stick, because Fishman's criminal actions had a multiplying effect that caused exponential harm to racehorses, and he continued to peddle alleged performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs) “until practically the eve” of his trial.

“[U]nlike the trainer-defendants charged and sentenced in this matter, Fishman's reach extended far beyond a single barn,” prosecutors stated in a July 5 sentencing submission filed in U.S. District Court (Southern District of New York).

“He supplied at least hundreds of trainers with his unsafe and illegal drugs. The breadth of the drugs the defendant offered for sale is unmatched by any other charged defendant in this action. The defendant was thus responsible for amplifying the disastrous effects of doping on racehorses in the industry. The defendant, under the guise of providing medically necessary veterinary care, enabled scores of corrupt trainers by selling unnecessary PEDs to enrich himself,” the filing stated.

Fishman undoubtedly tried to paint a different picture in his own sentencing submission that got filed June 27. But the public can't access that document, because his legal team asked for and received permission from the court to file it under seal.

Three days prior, on June 24, TDN reported that Fishman had to be hospitalized for psychiatric reasons during his trial earlier this year, thus explaining his cryptic absence during closing arguments. The presence of records related to his health could have been a reason the judge okayed shielding what is normally a public document.

The July 5 filing by the feds, however, shed some light on what Fishman wrote in his pre-sentencing filing, which is a convict's final chance to impress upon a judge that he doesn't deserve harsh punishment.

“It is unsurprising that the defendant's sentencing submission contains no expression of remorse or contrition,” the feds stated. “He likewise expresses no desire to reform. Even on the verge of sentencing, the defendant is entirely unrepentant for his crimes, and, absent a significant term of imprisonment, is at a high risk of recidivism.”

The government's report continued: “For almost two decades, including two years after his arrest in this matter, Seth Fishman cravenly pumped hundreds of thousands of illegal PEDs into the marketplace, and was dissuaded by no one–not state racing commissions, racetracks, the Food and Drug Administration, Customs and Border Protection, state drug regulators, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York, nor this Court-to comply with the law.

“The defendant earned millions of dollars. He did so on the backs of racehorses that were doped by corrupt trainers. The defendant and his convicted co-conspirator, Lisa Giannelli, armed trainers motivated by greed with the means to corruptly win races by injecting and drenching racehorses with unsafe, medically unnecessary, prohibited PEDs.

“Fishman was not naïve or ignorant of the law. He did not 'exercise very poor judgment.' His crimes were not the product of a momentary lapse. Fishman was at the helm of a sophisticated, years-long, cross-border scheme to profit from the creation, marketing, sale, and distribution of illegal PEDs that he shipped across the country and around the world to unscrupulous trainers and others in the racehorse industry that sought to gain a competitive edge…” the filing stated.

“Over approximately 20 years, Fishman perpetuated the myth that he was operating as a legitimate veterinarian, conducting examinations, reaching diagnoses, and prescribing necessary medications for the treatment and prevention of bona fide medical issues.

“Yet Fishman did no such thing. He instead concocted novel PEDs, mass-produced his creations, and marketed and sold them to trainers across the country and around the world, resulting in millions of dollars of sales. He ran an illegal wholesale drug distribution business.

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Fishman's Mar. 8 filing in United States District Court (Southern District of New York) is likely the first of several legal steps leading to a formal appeal of his convictions. He faces 20 years in prison upon sentencing May 5.

“As relevant here, a multiplicitous indictment 'charges the same crime in two counts,'” Fishman's letter motion stated, “when 'only one crime has been committed' in 'law and fact.'”

Fishman's filing–almost two years to the date of his Mar. 9, 2020, arrest–argued that the dual counts could lead to “multiple sentences for the same offense,” and that the two counts might have “improperly prejudice[d] a jury by suggesting that a defendant has committed not one but several crimes.”

Fishman, along with six other veterinarians, 11 trainers, and nine others, was charged 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.

“The indictment in this case accused Dr. Fishman of participating in overlapping but ostensibly independent conspiracies to illegally distribute a variety of customized PEDs–untestable, adulterated and misbranded–to racehorse owners and trainers in America and abroad,” Fishman's motion stated.

“Count Two alleged a broad, 18-year conspiracy–lasting from 2002 through 2020–with Lisa Giannelli, Jordan Fishman, Rick Dane Jr. and unnamed others. Count One alleged a subsidiary, four-year conspiracy–lasting from 2016 through 2020–with Jorge Navarro, Erica Garcia, Marcos Zulueta, Michael Tannuzzo, Christopher Oakes and unnamed others…

“Yet throughout the trial–from the start of the prosecutor's opening to summation–the government framed the case as one involving 'a single, ongoing conspiratorial' agreement: namely, an encompassing 18-year arrangement among Dr. Fishman, his employees, suppliers and customers to manufacture, buy and sell the same menu of adulterated and misbranded PEDs through Dr. Fishman's company, Equestology LLC, rather than 'two separate schemes operating independently…'

“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.”

The filing continued: “Perhaps most significant, the government's summations graphically confirmed its mixing and matching the charged conspiracies–its blending their vague contours, blurring their fuzzy boundaries and otherwise presenting the two as an interwoven, indivisible whole…

“Even more striking, the prosecutors opted to address the charges in 'reverse,' starting with the sprawling conspiracy alleged in Count Two [before finally getting around to] Count One…

“On this record–even when construed most favorably to the government and drawing all inferences in its favor–the only plausible conclusion is that the lesser conspiracy charged in Count One was 'simply a species' or subset of the greater one alleged in Count Two.”

Fishman's multiplicity motion suggested a remedy of merging his two convictions so that only a single sentence will be imposed.

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Prosecutor Anden Chow began by telling jurors that the defendants had operated a black market drug conspiracy for two decades.

He said Fishman and Giannelli created hundreds of drugs that were used to secretly dope race horses.

The drugs they produced were undetectable in post-racing testing, Chow said, so that trainers who were their customers could increase their chances of winning races by committing fraud.

“For two decades they did their best to avoid getting caught,” the prosecutor said. “They were successful until today.”

Fishman and Giannelli went on trial on charges of conspiring to misbrand and adulterate drugs, including performance-enhancing drugs used to dope horses at tracks across the country.

The opening statements came after a jury of eight women and four men was seated in U.S. District Court in Manhattan.

Fishman and Giannelli were among more than two dozen trainers, veterinarians, and others busted in 2020 in what prosecutors say is the most far-reaching prosecution of racehorse doping in U.S. Justice Department history. Among those charged was prominent trainer Jason Servis, whose Maximum Security finished first in the 2019 Kentucky Derby (G1) but was disqualified for interference. Servis has maintained a not guilty plea and is awaiting trial.

Fishman and Giannelli listened attentively as Chow and their attorneys addressed the jury. Each is free on $100,000 bail.

Chow was the first to address the jury.

He said that the world of horse racing was a highly lucrative business, making it tempting for some to dope horses to get an edge. He said to guard against this regulators established rules on what substances can be administered to horses and when.

“Fishman and Giannelli sold drugs to get around these rules,” Chow said.

The prosecutor said Fishman and Giannelli, who was his associate, had “hundreds of clients” and were “paid millions of dollars.”

One of the drugs Fishman manufactured boosted red blood cells in horses to increase endurance, Chow said.

He said Fishman described this drug as “the Holy Grail” of drugs.

The prosecutor said Fishman was also obsessed with manufacturing drugs that would be undetectable in post-race testing.

Chow added one of Fishman's clients was trainer Jorge Navarro. He described Navarro as one of the sport's most successful trainers who ran a doping program that relied on Fishman and others.

Navarro has pleaded guilty for his role in the case and has been sentenced to five years in prison.

Chow told jurors that the government's case would include the testimony of trainers who bought Fishman's drugs, text messages, items seized as part of search warrants, and “the words of the defendants on wiretaps.”

During his opening statement, Fishman's attorney Maurice Sercarz said that when Fishman became a veterinarian, he swore an oath promising to always work for the benefit and health of horses.

“This is the calling he answered,” Sercarz said.

He added, “It will be for the government to prove that his intent and purpose was something other than limiting animal suffering.”

The defense attorney told jurors there is great beauty in racing, but there is an ugly side with too many owners and trainers willing to cheat.

Sercarz said it wasn't his client's intention to defraud or mislead anyone.

“The individuals who purchased substances and products from Dr. Fishman knew what they were getting,” he said.

Giannelli attorney Louis Fasulo said his client didn't do anything wrong. She believed the products Fishman manufactured were okay to deliver to others, he said.

He said Giannelli was a high school graduate dedicated to the well-being of horses.

“She went to work and fulfilled her responsibility,” Fasulo said.

After the opening statements, prosecutors called their first witness, Courtney Adams, for limited testimony before the trial's first day wrapped up. She worked for Fishman's business Equestology in South Florida from 2012-'16.

She said that during that time she saw Fishman treat animals “maybe once or twice.”

Prosecutors contend that Fishman's business was more about selling drugs than taking care of horses.

Her testimony resumes Jan. 21.

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

 

The post ‘Holy Grail’ Of Drugs: Horse Doping Trial Of Veterinarian Fishman, Associate Begins appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Linke, who worked for Colts Neck Equine Associates in Manalapan Township, N.J., was one of more than two dozen trainers, veterinarians and drug suppliers indicted in March 2020 on drug misbranding and adulteration after a lengthy, multi-state FBI probe. A number of defendants have since pleaded guilty, including Thoroughbred trainer Jorge Navarro, who was sentenced to five years in prison. Others who pleaded not guilty are awaiting trial.

Linke primarily practiced on Standardbreds and is alleged to have assisted trainer Nicholas Surick by supplying misbranded and adulterated performance-enhancing drugs and falsifying medical and pharmaceutical records to conceal Surick's activities.

In the deferred prosecution agreement, the U.S. attorney said  that “after a thorough investigation it has been determined that the interest of the United States and your (Linke's) interest will be best served by deferring prosecution. … Prosecution will be deferred during the term of your good behavior and satisfactory compliance with the terms of this agreement for the period of two years from the signing of this agreement.”

The agreement was signed by Linked on Dec. 18, 2021. Prosecutors said no further prosecution of Linke will be pursued and charges in the indictment dismissed if she complies with all the rules, regulations and special conditions of the agreement.

Among the conditions are: Linke shall refrain from violating any law and shall only associate with “law-abiding persons” and “avoid association with any member or employee of Colts Neck Equine.”

Linke also agreed to relinquish any state horse racing professional license and will not apply for any such licenses until the two-year period expires. She is also required to “refrain from the practice of veterinary medicine on horses involved, or intended to be involved, in pari-mutuel horse racing” for the period of compliance required.

She is also restricted from travel outside of certain areas without permission and is required to report to a U.S. Pretrial Services Officer as directed.

The special conditions to the agreement are:

“The U.S. attorney may at any time revoke or modify any condition of this provisional release or change the period of such supervision. The U.S. attorney may discharge you (Linke) from supervision at any time. The U.S. attorney may at any time proceed with the prosecution for this offense should the U.S. attorney, in his or her sole discretion, deem such action advisable.”

According to a Linked In page, Linke is a 2005 graduate of the University of Pennsylvania school of veterinary medicine after receiving a Bachelor of Science degree in animal science from Cornell University in 2000. She worked at Chino Valley Equine Hospital as an intern in 2005-'06 and was associate veterinarian at Colts Neck Equine from June 2006 until the time of the indictment in March 2020.

The post New Jersey Veterinarian Gets Deferred Prosecution Deal In Federal Doping Case appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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In the form of dueling motions filed by each party Dec. 1 in  United States District Court (Southern District of New York), the two sides sparred over whether a jury should hear a wide range of evidence that involves what the government is alleging as Fishman “specifically target[ing] clients in the racehorse industry” by “peddling dozens of new drugs that purported to have performance-enhancing effects on racehorses [in a manner] squarely focused on ensuring that [he and his] customers would not get caught doing so.”

Some of what the prosecution wants admissible dates back at least a decade and involves Fishman being investigated in 2012 in Delaware when a Standardbred died after being injected with one of his prescribed products, plus separate PED-related admissions Fishman made in a different investigation that resulted in the prosecution of then-prominent Standardbred breeder David Brooks, who was convicted in 2013 in a $200 million fraud and obstruction of justice case.

The two sides also took umbrage at each other's choices of veterinary “experts” who have been submitted on witness lists to testify on the safety, efficacy, and clinical pharmacology of the drugs Fishman is alleged to have misbranded, adulterated, and conspired to distribute to other racetrack-based defendants in America and abroad.

Some of the motions made by both sides Wednesday that asked the court to exclude evidence relate to aspects of the case that have already been raised in previous court documents.

But one bizarre new offshoot that Fishman's legal team doesn't want brought up in front of a jury concerns a wiretapped phone conversation in which Fishman is allegedly asked by a camel-racing client in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) if he can also produce a “Viagra for ladies” that could be covertly added to a woman's drink.

The government is asserting that in February 2018, an individual identified only as “Bengawi” who purportedly worked for the UAE's Scientific Centers & Presidential Camel Department “solicited Seth Fishman to distribute PEDs, and to create and distribute [an aphrodisiac that] 'can be added in juice, for example.'”

Prosecutors wrote in a Nov. 17 court filing that, “In the course of these communications, the contact provided Seth Fishman with a video of what appeared to be an individual spiking a woman's unattended drink. In response, Seth Fishman offered to make 'BI-AGRA,' which he described as “Female Viagra so strong it makes the woman bisexual.”

The government's intent in wanting this exchange admissible appears to be rooted in establishing a pattern of what substances Fishman was able or willing to produce for clients.

The defense is objecting to the admissibility of those wiretapped sex-drug communications on the grounds that “the allegation that 'Bengawi' solicited the defendant to 'create and distribute illegal drugs' is a conclusion of law without any basis in fact…. It is unclear whether the defendant was responding in a humorous vein; or even taking the request seriously. There is no indication that the defendant subsequently shipped a substance intended for this use.'”

But even if the judge ends up disallowing that portion of evidence, the feds appear to be armed with a solid base of other wiretapped evidence to try and establish “Fishman's overall intent in his drug design–to avoid testability while increasing performance.”

One such intercepted conversation disclosed by the government in Wednesday's filing is a Mar. 31, 2019, call in which Fishman allegedly explains to a foreign potential client what his business strategy is at his Florida firm, Equestology:

“I design programs for people. So, if you're somebody who's got a bunch of endurance horses and you know what you are doing–and that's why I technically only work with trainers that have a certain amount of horses or more, because it would make sense to do it…I mostly work in regenerative peptides, and I work in things that are not commercially available.

“Every now and then people will ask me to make products because they want to go sell them to people who really don't know what's going on. Mostly camel guys that are in the desert. I don't have to tell you how it is, right?…But, I can meet with you [in Dubai]. You can explain to me your needs and wants and I can tell you how there's things that I made for other people that are not exclusive to them.

“If you want your own exclusive stuff, I'll tell you how we go about doing it. The reason I say that certain people want exclusivity is because, obviously, if these horses are being tested and they have something that somebody else has and that person is irresponsible, then it becomes a problem for them,” the government's motion stated.

When the judge does, in fact, rule on the admissibility questions, the crux of the decision might come down to which veterinarians will be allowed to testify and what they will be allowed to say in front of jurors.

The feds are objecting to Fishman's choice of Clara Fenger as a witness to opine on the nature of the pharmaceuticals he sold. She previously worked as a veterinarian with the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission for 15 years and is currently the sole proprietor of a Kentucky-based company called Equine Integrated Medicine.

Fenger's name might be familiar to racetrackers who have followed other drug-related cases. Her curriculum vita states she has provided “expert testimony” in no fewer than 19 international, federal, and state jurisdictions involving criminal, civil and administrative cases.

Recently, Fenger's work has included testifying on behalf of trainer Bob Baffert when his legal team overturned the 2020 lidocaine disqualifications of Charlatan and Gamine in Arkansas. Fenger also was hired by Baffert this past summer to escort the urine sample of GI Kentucky Derby winner Medina Spirit (Protonico) when it was sent to New York for additional betamethasone-related testing.

The prosecution's objection to Fenger is “because none of Dr. Fenger's opinions are admissible…insofar as they are unsupported and not based on facts, data, reliable

principles, or specialized knowledge, and because they concern issues that will serve only to sow confusion and distract the jury.”

In turn, Fishman's legal team is objecting to the three veterinarians the government wants to call as “experts”: Jean Bowman, veterinary medical officer in the Division of Surveillance for the Food and Drug Administration (FDA); Diana Link, a veterinary medical officer at the FDA Center for Veterinary Medicine, and Cynthia Cole, the Director of the Racing Laboratory at the University of Florida who was responsible for the regimen of drug testing at the Florida Department of Pari-Mutuel Wagering.

“First, the Court should preclude testimony suggesting that the purpose of the statutory scheme is to ensure the well-being of the racehorses,” Fishman's counsel wrote in a memorandum accompanying the Dec. 1 motions.

“Second, the Court should preclude evidence regarding the 'safety and efficacy' of those products allegedly manufactured and distributed by Dr. Fishman. The defendant is not charged in the instant Indictment with crimes relating to the manufacture or distribution of substances that are unsafe for use by animals…Opinion evidence regarding the 'safety and efficacy' of Dr. Fishman's products is, therefore, not relevant to the issues at trial.”

Fishman is charged with two felony counts. In a separate court order signed Dec. 2 by the judge in the case, it was noted that his case (along with co-defendant Lisa Giannelli) received the first back-up slot on the court calendar to begin a trial Jan. 19, 2022.

The post Fishman, Feds Spar Over Admissibility of Evidence appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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In federal court on Wednesday, Navarro acknowledged his role in a racehorse doping scheme that involved multiple performance-enhancing substances, including imported clenbuterol and blood-building drugs he both admitted giving to his horses and distributing to others.

As the Department of Justice stated in a press release, Navarro was a “reckless fraudster whose veneer of success relied on the systematic abuse of the animals under his control.”

Furthermore, Audrey Strauss, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York who is prosecuting the cases against more than two dozen trainers, veterinarians and suppliers, said performance-enhancing drugs “have corrupted much of the horse racing industry.”

The guilty plea by Navarro and last week's admission of guilt by veterinarian Kristian Rhein, Strauss said, “demonstrate the continued commitment of this office and our partners at the FBI to the investigation and prosecution of corruption, fraud and endangerment at every level of the horse racing industry.”

Navarro admitted to doping numerous horses, including Sharp Azteca, winner of eight of 17 races, including the Grade 1 Cigar Mile in 2017. He now stands at stud at Three Chimneys Farm.

Among the horses veterinarian Rhein admitted doping was Jason Servis-trained Maximum Security, who won four Grade 1 races and was disqualified from first place for interference in the 2019 Kentucky Derby. Transferred to Bob Baffert after Servis was indicted at the same time as Navarro (Servis has pleaded not guilty), Maximum Security won two of his final four starts before retiring to stud at Coolmore's Ashford Stud.

Just as Major League Baseball's record book is littered with the accomplishments of steroid cheaters like Barry Bonds, so too does horse racing now have a tainted database, with major races won by horses associated with convicted or indicted dopers. Even the Stud Book is polluted.

What happens next?

Can we really take Strauss at her word that the feds will continue their investigation? We know that the more guilty pleas there are, the greater likelihood that the convicted cheaters will cooperate with the government, widening the investigation and likely resulting in more trainers and veterinarians being charged. Prosecutors have collected massive amounts of information via computer and phone records, and cooperating witnesses can help connect some of the dots.

It probably comes down to how much more time and resources the Southern District of New York wants to commit to expose further corruption and cheating in this game.

Racing has been exposed as a sport with weak or non-existent leadership at the racetrack and regulatory level when it comes to integrity issues. Track executives care more about filling the entry box than they do about the ethics or character of the trainers and owners who are supplying those entries.

Regulators concern themselves more with finding the cheapest testing laboratories than hiring the ones that have proven to be most effective at finding illicit drugs. And then they brag about how clean the game is because there are so few positive tests.

One example: In 2015, Truesdail Laboratories was found during a blind sample audit conducted by the Indiana Horse Racing Commission to have missed multiple positive tests, including a Class 1 drug – the most severe. Indiana fired Truesdail and moved their testing to another lab. It took years for a number of other racing commission to follow suit, even though Truesdail's failures were widely reported. Those racing commissions, from Maryland to New Jersey to Arkansas, simply didn't care.

Regulators also have known (or should know), based on the March 2020 indictments, that a representative for one of the owners of the Navarro-trained Nanoosh (according to Equibase, he was owned by Zayat Stables, Rockingham Ranch and David Bernsen) was on a conference call with the trainer discussing the horse's poor performances. According to the federal indictment, that person asked whether Navarro was “giving them all the shit,” and, “Is this horse jacked out? Is he on f – – king pills or what or are we just f – – king…” Navarro said, “Everything … he gets everything.”

Has a single racing commission or board of stewards – in California where the indictment said the stable is based or in any other state – called in the horse's owners to discuss this phone call with Navarro?

I doubt it. The last thing many commissions want to do – especially those rife with conflicts of interest – is hold owners accountable. To repeat: Racing commissions do not care.

There is a reason The Jockey Club – which has no official role in regulating horse racing – hired 5 Stones Intelligence, the private investigation firm that began the doping probe eventually turned over to the FBI and the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York. There was plenty of smoke coming from certain stables: incredible form reversals off the claim or private purchase, win percentages that defied logic and runners that would routinely re-break at the eighth pole. Jockey Club officials assumed there was fire associated with that smoke, and they were right.

There is also a reason The Jockey Club has been so adamant in pushing for federal legislation that would turn over medication, integrity and safety issues to a group like the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency that oversees Olympic athletes and the UFC, among other sports. It is because state racing commissions are not capable of policing the sport adequately.

It remains to be seen whether the March 2020 round-up was just the tip of the iceberg of corruption and cheating in our game. Some people should be very nervous going forward. Others should be ashamed for letting it get to this point.

The post Feds Call Navarro A ‘Reckless Fraudster,’ Say Drugs Have ‘Corrupted Much Of The Horse Racing Industry’ appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Lichoa, who came to the U.S. from his native Venezuela 20 years ago, worked in the Ocala area as farm veterinarian for Franks Farm and more recently was general manager for the Iadisernia family's Northwest Farms. He began training horses in 2018 and it is in that role that he got caught up in an FBI investigation that would lead to the indictment of Lichoa and four other men.

According to the original indictment, Lichoa was identified to undercover FBI agents as someone who could help launder money through a racetrack horsemen's account. In a secretly recorded FBI sting operation, Lichoa accepted $50,000 he was told came from bribes made to corrupt Brazilian politicians.

The indictments were unsealed last March, shortly after another investigation yielded more than two dozen arrests in a doping probe that included charges against trainers Jason Servis, Jorge Navarro and others. Both investigations came out of the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York.

Lichoa pleaded guilty last October.

Prosecutors sought a sentence of 12 to 18 months, with half of the time allowed to be served by home detention. According to Bloodhorse.com, Judge Jed S. Rakoff may have been swayed by some of the 18 letters of support for Lichoa submitted by family members and horse industry professionals who have either worked with or done business with him.

Lichoa is to report to prison on Aug. 31, the delay being set so that he will have time to be vaccinated for COVID-19 before serving his term. Lichoa's attorney, in an appeal for home incarceration, had cited the high percentage of COVID cases in the federal prison system and suggested Lichoa was especially vulnerable because of health issues.

Read more at Bloodhorse.com

The post Report: Florida Horseman Lichoa Receives Three-Month Jail Sentence On Money Laundering Charge appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Acting U.S. Attorney Audrey Strauss said: “Scott Robinson and Sarah Izhaki represent the supply side of a market of greed that continues to endanger racehorses through the sale of performance-enhancing drugs. Each of these defendants provided the raw materials for fraud and animal abuse through the sale of unregulated and dangerous substances: Robinson's products were manufactured in shoddy facilities with no professional oversight of their composition; Izhaki's products were smuggled into the country and sold from cars in supermarket parking lots. These convictions show that our Office and our partners at the FBI are committed to the prosecution and investigation of corruption, fraud, and endangerment in the horse racing industry.”

From at least in or about 2011 through at least in or about March 2020, Robinson conspired with others to manufacture, sell, and ship millions of dollars' worth of adulterated and misbranded equine drugs, including performance-enhancing drugs intended to be administered to racehorses for the purpose of improving those horses' race performance in order to win races and obtain prize money. Robinson sold these drugs through several direct-to-consumer websites designed to appeal to racehorse trainers and owners, including, among others, “HorsePreRace.com.”

The Paulick Report published an investigative report on HorsePreRace in 2016. Click here to read that reporting.

Robinson contributed to the conspiracy by, among other things, sourcing chemicals used to create custom PEDs that were advertised and sold; falsely labeling, packaging, and shipping those PEDs to customers across the country, including in the Southern District of New York; and collecting, reporting, and responding to employee and customer complaints regarding the misbranded and adulterated products advertised and sold online. Among the drugs advertised and sold during the course of the conspiracy were “blood builders,” which are used by racehorse trainers and others to increase red blood cell counts and/or the oxygenation of muscle tissue of a racehorse in order to stimulate the horse's endurance, which enhances that horse's performance in, and recovery from, a race, as well as customized analgesics which are used by racehorse trainers and others to deaden a horse's nerves and block pain in order to improve a horse's race performance. The drugs distributed through the defendants' websites were manufactured in non-FDA registered facilities and carried significant risks to the animals affected through the administration of those illicit PEDs. For example, in 2016, Robinson received a complaint regarding the effect of his unregulated drugs on a customer's horse: “starting bout 8 hours after I give the injection and for about 36 hours afterwards both my horses act like they are heavily sedated, can barely walk. Could I have a bad bottle of medicine, I'm afraid to give it anymore since this has happened three times.” Commenting on this complaint, Robinson wrote simply, “here is another one.”

In a separate conspiracy, from at least in or about February 2018 through at least in or about November 2019, Izhaki conspired with others to transport, sell, and deliver, tens of thousands of dollars of erythropoietin, a “blood builder” drug intended to increase a horse's racing performance, which had been smuggled into the country from Mexico. This drug was covertly transported into the United States and sold by Izhaki, who believed it would be used by racehorse trainers to illicitly improve their horses' race performance. Izhaki also offered for sale amphetamines, and a substance that Izhaki referred to as “the Devil,” which Izhaki claimed would mask the presence of potent drugs in a human or animal's body.

The defendants are among 27 individuals charged in a series of Indictments arising from an investigation of a widespread 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 competing at all levels of professional horseracing. By evading PED prohibitions and deceiving regulators and horse racing officials, participants in these schemes sought to improve race performance and obtain prize money from racetracks, all to the detriment and risk of the health and well-being of the racehorses.

Robinson, 46, of Tampa, Fla., and Izhaki, 45, of Manalapan, N.J., each pled guilty to one count of conspiring to unlawfully introduce and receive with the intent to redistribute for pay or otherwise adulterated and misbranded drugs in interstate commerce, and to misbrand drugs in interstate commerce. This offense carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison. The maximum potential sentence is prescribed by Congress and is provided here for informational purposes only, as any sentencing of the defendants will be determined by the judge.

Acting U.S. Attorney Strauss praised the outstanding investigative work of the FBI New York Office's Eurasian Organized Crime Task Force and its support of the Bureau's Integrity in Sports and Gaming Initiative. Ms. Strauss also thanked the New Jersey Attorney General's Office, the New York State Police, and the New York City Police Department for their support of this investigation, and the Food and Drug Administration and Drug Enforcement Administration for their assistance and expertise.

This case is being handled by the Office's Money Laundering and Transnational Criminal Enterprises Unit. Assistant United States Attorneys Sarah Mortazavi, Benet J. Kearney, and Andrew C. Adams are in charge of the prosecution.

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