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Lisa Giannelli Trial Begins

Jury selection kicked off April 27 in the trial of a Delaware woman who prosecutors say helped veterinarian Dr. Seth Fishman supply illegal performance-enhancing drugs to trainers who used them to secretly dope horses to win races.

By day's end, a jury of eight men and four women was sworn in to hear the case against Lisa Giannelli in U.S. District Court in New York.

Judge Mary Kay Vyskocil scheduled opening statements for Apr. 28. The government has two FBI agents lined up to testify as their first witnesses.

Giannelli was in court for the jury selection.

One of the jurors chosen is a 60-year-old woman who said during voir dire that she has attended the GI Kentucky Derby “numerous times.”

Giannelli, of Felton, worked for Fishman and his Florida company Equestology as a sales representative. They were arrested two years ago following a lengthy FBI investigation into suspected backstretch horse doping that nabbed more than two dozen others.

Those charged included prominent Thoroughbred trainers Jorge Navarro and Jason Servis. Navarro pleaded guilty last year and was sentenced to five years in prison. Servis is awaiting a trial that has been pushed back to early 2023.

Giannelli's case is being heard in the same courthouse where Fishman was convicted Feb. 2 on two counts of conspiracy to violate adulteration or misbranding laws after an 11-day trial. She is charged with one of those crimes.

Fishman and Giannelli have been the only ones in the case to take their chances at trial. There have been nine other guilty pleas since the arrests, including Navarro's.

Giannelli was to be tried with Fishman, but after opening statements and testimony from the government's first witness, a mistrial was declared in her case after her lawyer Louis Fasulo tested positive for COVID-19, preventing him from proceeding.

She faces five years in prison if convicted. She is free on $100,000 bond.

At a conference Apr. 25, Fasulo said his client would be testifying in her own defense. He also said she would be his only witness. Fishman didn't testify, and his lawyers called no other witnesses.

Fasulo told Vyskocil that he was “100% certain” Gianelli would take the stand.

“I never make that commitment, but we know it's going to happen,” he said.

In court papers last month, prosecutors spelled out their case against Giannelli.

They said she had traveled to racehorse training facilities in the northeast U.S., offering to sell Fishman's drugs “on demand, without regard to the existence of any prescription, the medical need for such drugs or the legality (or propriety) of selling such drugs directly to racehorse trainers.”

In court papers, Fasulo has signaled his intent to put on a “good faith” defense.

“A person acts in good faith when he or she has an honestly held belief, opinion, or understanding that as part of her experience in the horse racing industry veterinarians were allowed to sell drugs they compounded or manufactured and it was the trainer's responsibility to follow withdrawal times, even though the belief, opinion or understanding turns out to be inaccurate or incorrect,” Fasulo wrote in a proposed instruction that he wants the jury to hear before it begins deliberations.

At the previous trial, Fasulo sought to distance his client from Fishman, a tactic he is expected to take this time around.

“We sit here today after hearing the government's opening statement that Lisa Giannelli is a lone wolf in a herd of sheep,” he said as he began his opening remarks to the prior jury. “This case will prove that Lisa was a sheep herded by the sheep master.”

Fasulo said then that Giannelli had been a groom and a trainer before she went to work for Fishman. He said they had worked together for 18 years.

Fasulo said his client had no ability to create the products that Fishman manufactured and had no ability to label them.

“She took no responsibility as to the products as they were presented to her, other than they were presented by a veterinarian who was licensed in the states in which she was dealing,” he said.

At the end of his remarks, he said they don't hide from the fact that Giannelli worked for Fishman.

“What the government found in her home were products given to her by Seth Fishman, the veterinarian, and you will hear that she believed those products to be okay to transport to others,” he said.

The trial is expected to last two weeks.

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

The post Lisa Giannelli Trial Begins appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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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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More Trainers Testify Against Fishman As Trial Continues

Two current trainers testified Jan. 27 at Dr. Seth Fishman's horse doping trial that they raced horses on illegal performance-enhancing drugs that came from the accused veterinarian.

The testimony from Adrienne Hall and Jamen Davidovich highlighted the seventh day of Fishman's trial on adulteration and misbranding conspiracy charges. Fishman was one of 27 individuals charged in the case and is the first on trial. Those charged include two prominent trainers–Jason Servis, who is awaiting trial, and Jorge Navarro, who pleaded guilty and has been sentenced to five years in prison.

Hall, of Monroe, New Jersey, trains horses at the Sunshine Meadows harness track in Florida and last raced a Standardbred last month in New Jersey. Davidovich, also an owner, raced primarily in the Mid-Atlantic in 2020-21. He has starts this year in New York and Ohio and says he approaches the sport now more as a hobby.

Both told the jury of eight women and four men how they went about getting in touch with Fishman in 2017 and 2018 with the sole intention of obtaining from PEDs that wouldn't show up in post-race testing.

“His reputation preceded him,” Davidovich, 31, of Pennsylvania said.

Hall testified Fishman gave her a PED called VO2 Max, which she used to dope a horse and win a harness race in March 2019. Prosecutors have elicited testimony that VO2 Max increases horses' oxygen levels that enable them to run faster and longer but at risk to their safety and well-being.

The jury heard a portion of an FBI wiretap that captured Hall excitedly telling Fishman about the first-place finish.

“I wish you could have seen the race,” Hall says to the veterinarian. “He was so fantastic. He dominated. He was a completely different animal. I was so happy.”

Hall added the horse's final quarter time was 27 seconds.

“What is it usually?” Fishman asks.

“Usually it's :28 or :29 and struggling,” she responds.

Hall testified that the PEDs were a gift from Fishman. She said she believed that was the case because Fishman wanted her to connect him to two trainers she knew.

One of those trainers was Todd Pletcher, the Hall of Famer who runs a large stable.

His name was revealed under cross-examination by Fishman attorney Maurice Sercarz.

Prosecutor Sarah Mortazavi, who initially questioned Hall, never asked Hall to reveal the names during her direct examination.

At the start of her direct testimony, Hall had said that before she got her trainer's license, she worked at two Thoroughbred farms and for Pletcher's stable in an administrative position, not with horses.

Hall told Sercarz that even though she told Fishman she would contact Pletcher, she never did.

Mortazavi then asked why that was when she questioned the witness again.

“He would never take my advice or opinion,” Hall testified, referring to Pletcher. “I would never approach him about something like that.”

Hall was on the witness stand, testifying against Fishman as part of a non-prosecution agreement with prosecutors. They agreed not to prosecute her for doping horses.

Davidovich was testifying without any such agreement. Instead, he invoked his Fifth Amendment right not to testify and then was compelled to testify by Judge Mary Kay Vyskocil under a grant of immunity. Under a grant of immunity, a witness can't be charged with any crimes he or she admits to.

Hall and Davidovich could, however, potentially face sanctions from regulators after their testimony. Servis and Navarro have been suspended from racing, as have other indicted individuals.

Davidovich told the jury Fishman began supplying him with PEDs after a meeting at a sushi bar in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. He said there was a third person at the meeting, a person he described as “my owner.”

Asked by prosecutor Anden Chow how the subject of PEDs came up, Davidovich responded, “We were talking about different things to make the horse run better.”

Davidovich said that as they got to know each other, Fishman complained to him about Navarro. Prosecutors say Fishman was one of Navarro's suppliers of banned PEDs.

“He said Navarro owed him a lot of money, and he was going to cut him off if he didn't pay,” the witness testified. “He also said he didn't want [Navarro] taking down the whole ship because he had a loud mouth.”

Davidovich said Fishman was referring to a video shot at Monmouth Park in which Navarro and one of his owners bragged after winning a race that Navarro was the “Juice Man.”

Davidovich said he stopped doping horses in 2018 after meeting Dr. Steve Allday, a well-known Thoroughbred veterinarian.

“He was the first person in the business who took me under his wing and taught me a different way of being involved in horse racing,” he testified.

He added: “I know what I did was wrong, and I wanted to move forward in a different way.”

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

The post More Trainers Testify Against Fishman As Trial Continues appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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Doping Trial Likely to Get Pushed into 2022

Prosecutors in the federal case against alleged dopers Jorge Navarro, Jason Servis and 12 other defendants told the judge Friday they had no objection to the granting of yet another extension so defense attorneys can sift through the voluminous amount of evidence against their clients, a move that will likely push back the start of the long-awaited trial until 2022 at the earliest.

The May 7 letter from acting United States Attorney Audrey Strauss to U.S. District Judge Mary Kay Vyskocil was filed fewer than 24 hours after defense attorneys filed their own, separate letter with the court signaling an intent to ask the judge to recuse herself from the case over alleged prejudices.

At deadline for this story, that official “Motion to Recuse” had not yet been filed, nor had the judge's purported conflicts been disclosed. But those separate letters from the defense and the prosecutors stem from discussions the parties had during a May 6 conference call, and all signs now point to the trial not starting until the two-year anniversary of the Mar. 9, 2020, arrests looms within sight.

Defense attorneys were already granted one extension two months ago to file motions to suppress evidence, which involves a massive batch of discovery documentation including transcripts of potentially incriminating phone recordings, emails and text messages.

The 14 defendants have all been implicated to various degrees in the alleged conspiracy to manufacture, mislabel, distribute and administer performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs) to Thoroughbreds and Standardbreds across America and in international races.

Strauss's letter outlined a proposed timetable that would give the defense one additional month, until Aug. 27, to review and/or object to the evidence, with 90 days tacked on beyond that date to accommodate time for the prosecution to respond and for the defense to offer a standard final reply.

“The parties further conferred on the matter of expert disclosures and timing for any motions relating to the preclusion of proposed experts,” Strauss wrote. “The Government has to date identified two experts and provided summary reports relating to their anticipated testimony. No defense experts have yet been identified…Representatives of the defense have asked that deadlines for expert disclosures [be] set at the subsequent conference to be held in the Fall of 2021.”

The last status conference in the case was held in November; the next one is coming up May 14.

Servis (who transformed Maximum Security from a $16,000 maiden-claimer into a MGISW star during the time the feds collected evidence on his alleged stable-wide doping practices) and Navarro (whom the government allegedly has on tape boasting about dosing elite-level sprinter X Y Jet “with 50 injections” of PEDs prior to a win in the 2019 G1 Golden Shaheen in Dubai) are the two now-barred trainers headlining the case.

The 12 other defendants are drug manufacturers, distributors, stable employees, and veterinarians allegedly involved to various degrees in the five counts listed in the indictment. They are: Erica Garcia, Christopher Oakes, Michael Tannuzzo, Marcos Zulueta, Rebecca Linke, Kristian Rhein, Michael Kegley, Jr., Alexander Chan, Seth Fishman, Jordan Fishman, Lisa Giannelli, and Rick Dane, Jr.

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