Seth Fishman

Federal prosecutors told a judge Friday that convicted veterinarian Seth Fishman's recent claim of illegality regarding the $13.5 million forfeiture imposed upon him "is predicated on a number of unfounded and easily disprovable presumptions." Fishman, who is currently imprisoned in Florida but appealing his 11-year sentence for two felony drug-supplying convictions in a decades-long international racehorse doping conspiracy, had stated in a Sept. 12 filing that the forfeiture order signed by the judge back on July 11 "is not authorized by statute and is therefore unlawful in its entirety." A...

Lisa Giannelli, who was sentenced to 3 1/2 years in prison Sept. 8 after being found guilty of peddling purportedly performance-enhancing drugs as a years-long protégé under the recently convicted drug-dealing veterinarian Seth Fishman, filed a formal notice of appeal for both her conviction and sentence in federal court Sept. 21. Giannelli, 56, of Dalton, Delaware, was also ordered to pay a fine of $100,000 and to forfeit $900,000. "This was not a one-time thing," Judge Mary Kay Vyskocil of U.S. District Court (Southern District of New York) said at...

The veterinarian Seth Fishman, who is currently imprisoned but appealing his 11-year sentence for two felony drug-supplying convictions in a decades-long international racehorse doping conspiracy, has filed legal paperwork objecting to the $13.5-million forfeiture that was also imposed upon him, claiming the judge's order was illegal. "The forfeiture sought here is not authorized by statute and is therefore unlawful in its entirety," Fishman's attorney, Steven Kessler, stated in a Sept. 12 filing in United States District Court (Southern District of New York). "The Preliminary Order of Forfeiture (POF) seeks a...

Lisa Giannelli was sentenced Sept. 8 to 3 1/2 years in prison as part of the federal government's sweeping investigation into horse doping at race tracks across the country. Giannelli, 56, was found guilty of peddling illegal performance-enhancing drugs to trainers to dope horses and faced a maximum of five years in prison. Her lawyers appealed for a no-jail sentence of probation. "This was not a one-time thing," Judge Mary Kay Vyskocil said in U.S. District Court in New York. "For 18 years, Ms. Giannelli marketed and sold what she...

Veterinarian Seth Fishman, who was sentenced to 11 years in prison July 11 after two felony drug-supplying convictions in a decades-long international racehorse doping conspiracy, has appealed his case to the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. Fishman's notice of appeal landed on the electronic court docket shortly after 6 p.m. Eastern time Friday. The filing noted that Fishman is appealing both the conviction and the sentence. Fishman's 11-year sentence was the longest meted out in the case that led to charges against 31 individuals, including prominent...

Dr. Seth Fishman, the Florida veterinarian snared in the federal government's sweeping horse doping investigation, was sentenced Monday to an 11-year prison sentence in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. The sentence is the longest meted out in the case that led to charges against 31 individuals, including prominent trainers Jorge Navarro and Jason Servis. Fishman is the 11th to be sentenced, which includes Navarro. Most of the others have pleaded guilty and await sentencing. Servis faces trial next year. Fishman, who has been behind...

Six days before veterinarian Seth Fishman is to be sentenced for his two felony drug-supplying convictions in a decades-long international racehorse doping conspiracy, United States prosecutors told a judge he deserves a prison term greater than the 10 years recommended by federal probation officials, but below the maximum sentencing guideline of 20 years. The feds also recommended that the judge not use convicted trainer Jorge Navarro's five-year sentence-the most severe among prison terms meted out so far in this conspiracy-as a measuring stick, because Fishman's criminal actions had a multiplying...

A federal judge on Tuesday denied a request by prison-bound veterinarian Seth Fishman to dismiss Count One of his two racehorse doping conspiracy convictions. Fishman, whose 26 months as a defendant have been hallmarked by minor courtroom dramas, various attempts to prevent or delay the trial, and accusations that he continued to peddle purported performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs) while free on bail, had argued that he was tried twice for the same crime because the first count was contained within the second, much broader conspiracy. Judge Mary Kay Vyskocil of United...

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...

A Jan. 23 trial date for the Jason Servis case was announced last week, which means in about eight months there will be some closure and Servis will learn his fate. The way he has handled things, it seems that he is at least somewhat optimistic that he will be found not guilty. If so, he is deluding himself. Everything about this case says that he has virtually no chance of being acquitted. Which raises a question: why is he fighting this when it makes far more sense to go...

The federal government's crackdown on horse doping notched another courthouse win May 6 with a jury finding Lisa Giannelli guilty of conspiracy to misbrand and adulterate drugs after an eight-day trial. The jury of eight men and four women in U.S. District Court in New York returned the verdict after less than two hours of deliberations spanning two days. Giannelli, 55, of Felton, Del., faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison at her sentencing Sept. 8 before Judge Mary Kay Vyskocil. The jurors rejected Giannelli's testimony in which...

Jury deliberations began began May 5 in the federal horse doping trial of Lisa Giannelli. The jury of eight men and four women got the case in U.S. District Court in New York late in the day and deliberated for about 30 minutes before going home for the night. Their deliberations resume May 6. Before leaving the courthouse, the jury requested a large batch of government exhibits and a transcript of the testimony of a government witness, Conor Flynn. He is a former assistant harness trainer who became a cooperating...