Ahead of his sentencing in federal court on July 11, prosecutors say veterinarian Dr. Seth Fishman has a lot more going against him than just his high-profile conviction on charges of drug adulteration and misbranding.
Attorneys for the Southern District of New York are seeking a prison sentence between 10 and 20 years for Fishman, who was convicted of federal drug misbranding charges earlier this year. The report also suggests Fishman, like several of his co-defendants, could be hit with serious financial penalties. The government requested Fishman be ordered to pay restitution of $25,860,514 to be shared jointly with co-defendant Jorge Navarro and others convicted on the same drug adulteration charge. In terms of restitution to victims, the report indicated prosecutors are aware of which “specific horses that the Government can demonstrably identify were doped, or specific trainers that the Government can demonstrate were recurrent purchasers of Fishman's inarguably prohibited PEDs, as reflected in the proposed restitution order provided to the Court and defense counsel amounting to a total of $11,268,177.”
In the case of previous defendants who have entered guilty pleas, court proceedings have indicated restitution payments would be distributed to connections of horses who lost to competitors doped by the defendants. Documents detailing proposed disbursement amounts have been filed under seal and have not been accessible by the public.
There are several aggravating factors the government detailed in its pre-sentencing report. Perhaps most notably, the prosecutors pointed to what they characterized as continued attempts by Fishman to keep selling illegal products even after he had been arrested and had his offices searched by the FBI. When investigators discovered that Fishman was still making and selling a couple of popular products after his arrest, Fishman's attorneys argued he was not in breach of any federal regulations or court orders because the substances were created only for export and were not for sale in the United States. In November 2020, a federal grand jury entered a superseding indictment that included a sentencing enhancement on “the basis of the defendant's continued commission of crimes while on pretrial release.” That enhancement could subject him to an additional consecutive prison term of up to ten years.
Throughout the case, both sides have acknowledged Fishman had clients outside the United States. One 2019 phone call between Fishman and harness trainer Adrienne Hall played during Fishman's trial included boasting by Fishman that his clients included Sheikh Mohammed al Maktoum's racing operations. At one stage after his arrest, Fishman requested that Judge Mary Kay Vyskocil give him permission to travel to Dubai to treat camels. (As is standard, all defendants in the case have been subject to travel restrictions which have confined their movement to pre-approved jurisdictions based on the location of their residences. Any travel outside of those areas would require special permission.) Vyskocil denied that request.
What hadn't come out in court before were Fishman's attempts to regain control of the products seized by the FBI with the help of the Emirati government. Prosecutors say that after his arrest and subsequent searches of his property in October 2019, Fishman emailed one of his clients suggesting they file an action in U.S. Court seeking the return of drugs seized by the FBI. In March 2020, the Presidential Affairs Department, Sector of Scientific Centers and Presidential Camel Department, Dubai Equine, and Dubai Camel filed a motion in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, claiming they had purchased the drugs the FBI had taken and as a result, American authorities had no right to hold them. Those filings also claimed the seized drugs were only to be used for the camel and equine breeding seasons in Dubai and were not intended for performance animals, a claim prosecutors in the Fishman misbranding case say was false.
Court documents released this week included a series of December 2019 email exchanges between Fishman and a person identified only as Adel. In them, Adel suggests Fishman “better send me a draft for what you want from me to prepare on the letter head and signed with stamp to send it back to you.”
In April 2020, a letter appeared in the case from Dubai Equine and the Presidential Camel Department on “United Arab Emirates Presidential letterhead, executed and with a Presidential seal detailing petitioners' relationship with Dr. Fishman,” apparently in an attempt to establish the Emirati government's business relationship with Fishman.
“Please remember that products were also requested by certain vets working for private stables owned by HH … It's NOT limited to DEH, because the products themselves may not be the actual issue, but how they were used,” Fishman wrote to Adel in December 2019. “Lina will eventually have to speak to the Palace either way because there are likely implications that go far beyond any importer or hospital. The necessary steps moving forward might require more than a newly positioned staff of Al Meydan.
“My fears are that a few young and inexperienced US officials eager to make major headlines without understanding the politics will loose[sic] site[sic] of their objective quickly. In respect to the crown I think being overly proactive would be far more appreciated than reactive.”
The attempts by government officials in Dubai to have the products released to them were ultimately denied, and afterwards, Fishman filed a similar motion of his own, which prosecutors say parroted some of the same statements previously made by the unsuccessful Emirati petitioners.
The phrase “Presidential Affairs” comes up again in the Fishman case file. In text messages intercepted by the FBI, Fishman complained about a time when he was under investigation in Delaware. In 2011, Dr. Brittany Faison of Coastal Veterinary Services was called to examine a Standardbred racehorse named Louisville in the barn of Les Givens who died after receiving an injection of pentosan made illegally by Fishman. Faison voiced concerns about whether Fishman was actually examining patients before prescribing treatments, and noted she had seen Lisa Giannelli, Fishman's co-defendant and former employee, at “farms in Harrington, Dovington Training Center, Gateway Farms, and now Seaford.”
Giannelli and Fishman denied allegations that Giannelli was practicing veterinary medicine without a license or that Fishman was not maintaining an appropriate relationship with patients.
In a phone call intercepted by the FBI, Fishman would later say that “Presidential Affairs” “cleaned up” veterinary board's investigation into Fishman.
It may not have been the only form of help he was hoping to get from the government in the UAE. In a June 2019 phone call with an unidentified female, Fishman said he “can't do business with anyone overseas because I get accused of laundering money. Which now, Sheikh Mohammed, not Mohammed Maktoum, Mohammad Nahyan of Abu Dhabi, he is going to make me a temporary resident and give me proper UAE banking and then everything I do will be under presidential endorsement. So when the IRS or somebody accuses me of money laundering they speak to presidential affairs.”
Besides his alleged use of international connections in this and other cases, this week's court filing also revealed a few more identities of active clients of Fishman. One wire tapped phone call between Fishman and Giannelli mentions the use of “bleeding paste” and “pills” by “Richey Silverman.” Another conversation via text with Giannelli mentions trainer and law enforcement officer Silvio Martin. In February 2020, Pennsylvania investigators reached out to Giannelli, hoping to ask Fishman about Martin, though the conversation doesn't specify why. Another document, which has been heavily redacted, lists several patient names of Standardbreds for whom Fishman prescribed BB3, a blood building product.
Interestingly, the same document includes line items which read, “potentially compromised product .. good customer gift,” and “Potentially compromised product … free.”
Prosecutors in the Fishman case further allege he hid assets from them when he was asked to detail his financial holdings, omitting two Panamanian bank accounts which had six figures in them. They also accuse Fishman of trying to intimidate trainer Jamen Davidovich ahead of his testimony in court. Fishman texted Davidovich saying he was copying “my investigator and wondering if we could have a call together.”
Fishman's attorneys have filed their own pre-sentencing report, but that report has been kept under seal and is inaccessible to the public or the media. A letter from the prosecution to the court indicated defense counsel had approved the unsealing of parts of the letter and supporting documentation, but wanted to keep some attachments under wraps because they include medical information. Fishman was not in court for the final verdict in February, and his attorneys indicated at that time he had been hospitalized.
Judge Vyskocil is expected to sentence Fishman next week.
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