change of plea

The barred trainer Jason Servis, the final--and most notoriously prominent--defendant awaiting a trial or sentencing in the 2020 racehorse doping conspiracy scandal, is negotiating with federal prosecutors for a plea bargain agreement to adjudicate the three felony drug misbranding and fraud conspiracy charges he is facing for allegedly drugging almost all the Thoroughbreds under his care in 2019. The disclosure was revealed late Friday afternoon in an otherwise routine court filing asking for an extension of time to file motions in Servis's upcoming trial, which has a Jan. 9 start...

Harness trainer Rick Dane Jr., one of the 27 people indicted by the federal government on charges of doping racehorses, has accepted a plea offer from the government and his case will now not go to trial. The news was delivered in a Friday, Feb. 11 letter from United States attorney Damian Williams to Judge Mary Kay Vyskocil. "The Government writes on behalf of the Government and defense counsel for Rick Dane, Jr., the defendant in the above-captioned case, to alert the Court that the defendant has accepted a plea...