On Thursday, federal prosecutors filed their pre-sentencing memo in the case of former trainer Jason Servis, attacking his attorneys' assertion that he was manipulated by his veterinarian and others into believing illegal drugs were safe to use.
“Jason Servis, an experienced, sophisticated, and vaunted thoroughbred racehorse trainer, reached the heights of his field through the corrupt administration of drugs to racehorses under his care and control,” the memo from assistant U.S. attorney Sarah Mortazavi began. “In order to hide his scheme, he lied, repeatedly, and persisted in his illegal conduct even when confronted with irrefutable proof that his conduct was dishonest and violated racing rules. He was under no illusions that his conduct was permissible. He was neither deceived nor manipulated.”
Prosecutors say that Servis fully understood that his use of SGF-1000 and clenbuterol went against regulations and released a number of new wiretap transcripts and other intercepted communications they believe demonstrate his attitude toward his activity.
The government is requesting a prison sentence between the 36 months assigned to veterinarian Dr. Kristian Rhein and the 48 months maximum outlined in sentencing guidelines for Servis. Servis entered a guilty plea late last year and is due to be sentenced by U.S. District Judge Mary Kay Vyskocil next week.
Here are a few of our takeaways from the government's memo:
–As Maximum Security prepared for a run in the inaugural Saudi Cup, an email from owner Gary West to Servis urged the trainer to be careful to avoid any “accidental drug violation” in the race, which both knew could be subject to different medication rules from what they were used to in the States.
“I would feel horrible to win a life changing race like this for everyone only to find out we didn't do something right because we didn't know,” West wrote.
“Sounds good … just an FYI Max has never been on anything out of the ordinary,” Servis wrote back.
“Jason, that is great but 'over there' they might consider a 'sugar cube' illegal – I am not smart enough to know,” West wrote back. ”So, if you need any help figuring out their rules I will gladly pay for you to get whatever advice you need. Much of what you need can be found in the manual they sent and from the Saudi's [sic] who officiate the race and enforce the rules.”
–A pair of intercepted calls between Rhein and Michael Kegley, Jr., sales manager for MediVet shed light on the company's star product in SGF-1000.
SGF-1000 was sold exclusively through veterinarians, and prosecutors say Servis was sourcing it through another veterinarian besides Rhein.
Kegley: Well so Servis and his brother you know [redacted] is buying literally as much SGF as you are.
Rhien: Yeah
Kegley: So [redacted] is giving it to him as well.
–MediVet imported SGF-1000 and claimed on paperwork it was a “supplement.” It's not clear where the company was importing it from, but in our previous reporting we learned that it shared a name with a product marketed by Australian company Advanced Equine and Camel Solutions, whose website went down shortly after the FBI raided MediVet's offices. Marketing of SGF-1000 by Advanced Equine and Camel Solutions claimed it could help “obtain Super Performance with Super Natural Growth Factors” and would result in “improved stamina and performance levels” and “increased energy levels, vigor, stamina and desire for physical activity.”
In summer 2019, when Kegley and Rhein became concerned that there may be regulatory scrutiny of the product they brainstormed ways to stay in business. They mulled rebranding it with a new name and new packaging – although they pointed out that it was distributed solely by veterinarians, so the public wouldn't recognize its branding anyway. They also thought of ways to make it sound less heavy-hitting to anyone skeptical of its contents.
Kegley: …Well think of that, think of the name, think of like what we can, you know, say “it's been reported to…X” you know, “help with tendon and ligament”
Rhein: I know, you know what we should call it like, like …
Kegley: Something real vague, yeah…
Rhien: Like Repair…
Kegley: And we won't mention the word growth factor in any way shape or form
Rhein: 100%, we should call it something like RepairRX. Like Repair Treatment, and RX …
Kegley: Yeah
Rhein: Something like that that just, people go, “oh, repair.”
Kegley: Right, and we can even put ot he box, you know, dietary supplement for equine. That way it's not, no one even has to question if it's FDA approved or not, it's strictly a supplement
Editor's note: Dietary supplements are not regulated by the FDA, but injectable products may not, generally speaking, be considered dietary supplements since laypeople are not supposed to give injections.
–Servis was using both commercially-made clenbuterol and compounded clenbuterol he acquired from fellow trainer Jorge Navarro. Both believed the compounded clenbuterol was supposed to be stronger than the FDA-approved version of the drug. Servis went to great lengths to conceal compounded clenbuterol, hiding it inside buckets of poultice, shampoo bottles, and rolls of self-adhesive bandage. He would send those containers on horse vans or in employees' vehicles, and later told law enforcement that they could see from his car's EZ Pass information he hadn't been shuttling drugs to other racetracks when they questioned him in summer 2019.
Servis and Navarro both seemed prepared for the possibility that officials could search their barns at any time and were aware they would open boxes and could check vehicles for contraband. They arranged to have third parties hand off the compounded clenbuterol from Navarro's operation to Servis' although names beyond that of Servis assistant Henry Argueta are redacted.
Argueta was originally named on the March 2020 federal indictment but was absent from a later superseding indictment.
–Two exhibits contain pages of intercepted conversations between Argueta and Servis, with Servis warning him to be careful to make sure no one observing the barn would see anything amiss. Servis told Argueta that Navarro was maintaining his treatment plan by coming to the backstretch himself to treat horses at 11 p.m.
–Navarro and Servis compared notes on which racing officials they viewed as friendly and which were sticklers for medication regulation and would confiscate substances they deemed illegal. As has been seen in previous evidence, Navarro claimed at least one official warned him ahead of time when a barn search or a visit from regulators was imminent.
All names of officials in this exchange are redacted.
–There was some regulatory interest in Maximum Security in June 2019 – a month after his first-place finish in the Kentucky Derby (from which he was disqualified for interference). He was out-of-competition tested on June 3 and again June 5. He had just received SGF-1000 on June 3. Servis was unsure whether the testing in both instances was just for the New Jersey Racing Commission or whether The Jockey Club could also be involved.
Rhein had previously assured Servis that SGF-1000 would evade testing and, if anything, may show up as a false positive for dexamethasone.
Editor's note: Testing experts tell us this is chemically impossible.
Servis called an unnamed veterinarian who did his work in New Jersey and suggested that the billing for the horse should reflect a dexamethasone administration from June 3. The veterinarian later called Servis back and confirmed “He got the dex Monday.”
According to prosecutors, Argueta requested Servis send him more compounded clenbuterol for Maximum Security on July 8, 2019 and also indicated he needed the drug for World of Trouble.
–Again, the intercepted conversations in this filing remind readers that even the people selling SGF-1000 didn't really know what was in it. In the transcript between Kegley and Rhein, both of whom agreed they were “99 percent sure” there was no growth hormone in the product, but they were concerned that testing of the product had found levamisole that Rhein said is “a big no-no even at trace levels.”
“We're 99 percent sure this is all just gonna fizzle, go away,” Kegley told Rhein. “because he's under the impression they're gonna test and that they're gonna do what the guy that you talked to Jason says, 'These idiots, they think they're helping these horses? They're not doing anything. We're not wasting our time with this, and then we'll just quietly move along like we always have.'”
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