sentencing

The sentencing for barred trainer Jason Servis, the final--and most notoriously prominent--defendant in the 2020 racehorse doping conspiracy scandal, was rescheduled by a judge's order on Thursday, from May 18 to July 26. The May 4 court order got handed down four years to the date that the Servis-trained Maximum Security (New Year's Day) crossed the finish wire first in the GI Kentucky Derby. The colt was subsequently disqualified for in-race interference. Unbeknownst to Servis at the time, federal investigators had already begun compiling a trove of wiretapped phone conversations...

Former harness trainer Richard Banca, who in April pleaded guilty to one felony count in the federal racehorse doping conspiracy sting that has now netted two dozen convictions or guilty pleas, got sentenced to 30 months in a federal prison Sept. 20. Banca also must forfeit $120,975 and was separately fined $10,000. "Banca was a prominent racehorse trainer whose success was founded on fraud and deceit," prosecutors wrote in a pre-sentence filing in United States District Court (Southern District of New York). "Banca's racing program-which he built and helmed-was predicated...

The veterinarian Seth Fishman--who is facing 20 years in prison, has an active motion asking for the first of his two convicted counts to be dismissed, and has already been granted one sentencing delay because he is allegedly having trouble filling out federal probation paperwork--again on Tuesday requested another delay of his sentencing. The half-redacted letter motion filed by his attorney in United States District Court (Southern District of New York) on May 17 suggests that a COVID-19 outbreak where he is being detained at Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn...