Seth Fishman

Day two of Lisa Giannelli's horse-doping trial in a New York courtroom began April 28 with opening statements and ended with testimony from an ex-harness trainer turned government cooperating witness. "The defendant wasn't just in the doping business, she was in the deception business," prosecutor Benjamin Gianforte told the jury in U.S. District Court in New York. But defense attorney Louis Fasulo countered by saying that his client couldn't be found guilty because her actions lacked criminal intent. "Intent," he wrote in large letters on a computer screen for the...

The veterinarian Seth Fishman, who is currently incarcerated at Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn after being convicted Feb. 2 on two felony counts in an international performance-enhancing drug (PED) racehorse doping conspiracy, had his lawyer ask a federal judge on Thursday to push back his May 5 sentencing because he is having trouble filling out required paperwork. Fishman is facing 20 years in prison, and he also has an active motion before the same judge asking for the first of his two convicted counts to be dismissed on the basis...

Federal prosecutors on Wednesday filed a formal opposition to convicted veterinarian Seth Fishman's recent attempt to dismiss Count One of his two racehorse doping convictions. Fishman is arguing that he was essentially tried twice for the same crime, because the first count was contained within the second, much broader conspiracy. The feds see it differently: "While there are notable foundational similarities between the two conspiracies, namely, the aim of moving drugs interstate to corruptly improve racehorse performance, the focus and scale of each conspiracy differed significantly," stated the government's Mar....

It may seem like yesterday, but the bombshell that was the announcement that more than two dozen people had been indicted for their alleged role in a horse doping scheme was made exactly two years and two days ago. What has happened to the 29 individuals since the day that shook horse racing to its core? Here's a rundown: Jorge Navarro: Navarro pled guilty to one count of drug alteration and misbranding and was sentenced to five years in prison, the maximum allowable sentence. Judge Mary Kay Vyskocil was not...

Thirty-four days after being found guilty by jury trial on two felony counts of conspiring to violate adulteration and misbranding laws in the nationwide racehorse doping case, the Florida-based veterinarian Seth Fishman made a motion in federal court asking for the first of those counts to be dismissed on the basis that it is allegedly "multiplicitous of" (already contained within) the second, much broader conspiracy. Fishman's Mar. 8 filing in United States District Court (Southern District of New York) is likely the first of several legal steps leading to a...

Jordan Fishman, the Massachusetts-based drug formulator who made the illicit substances that were then injected into racehorses by the likes of convicted horse doper Jorge Navarro and the accused doper Jason Servis, got sentenced to 15 months in federal prison Tuesday for his role in the international drugging conspiracy. Back in October, Fishman, 64, had pleaded guilty to one count of adulteration and misbranding of purportedly performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs). He faced a maximum sentence of three years in prison and a fine of up to $10,000. Instead, Judge Mary Kay...

The Meadowlands released a statement late Thursday saying it will not scratch horses owned by Adrienne Hall, a harness owner and trainer who testified in federal court last week against Seth Fishman while admitting she used his performance-enhancing drugs on her horses. Fishman was found guilty Wednesday of two counts of conspiring to violate adulteration and misbranding laws and the manufacture of PEDs administered to racehorses, and faces up to 20 years in prison. The statement stands in contrast to the policy of the United States Trotting Association, which said...

It was an eventful few months for three-time Eclipse champion jockey Irad Ortiz, Jr. Shortly after scoring a hat trick of victories at the Breeders' Cup, Ortiz was suspended 30 days for careless riding at Aqueduct. Upon his return, the 29-year-old picked up where he left off at Gulfstream, piloting winners left and right and over the weekend, added two more seven-figure Grade I wins to his trophy collection with victories in the Pegasus World Cup Turf Invitational S. on back-to-back winner Colonel Liam (Liam's Map) and Pegasus World Cup...

Florida veterinarian Dr. Seth Fishman, the first person to face trial in a sweeping horse-doping case that documented the widespread use of illegal and undetectable performance-enhancing drugs at tracks across the country, was convicted in New York Feb. 2 on charges that could put him behind bars for 20 years. A jury of eight women and four men in U.S. District Court in Manhattan found Fishman, 50, guilty of two counts of conspiring to violate adulteration and misbranding laws and the manufacture of PEDS administered to racehorses by corrupt trainers...

A New York jury began deliberations Feb. 1 in the horse doping trial of Dr. Seth Fishman. The jury of eight women and four men deliberated for about 30 minutes before retiring for the night without reaching a verdict. They resume deliberations the morning of Feb. 2. The charges against Fishman, a 50-year-old Florida veterinarian, stem from a federal government crackdown on horse doping at tracks across the country in which more than two dozen individuals were indicted. Those charged include top trainer Jason Servis, who is awaiting trial, and...

Closing arguments were a late scratch Jan. 31 in the horse doping trial of veterinarian Dr. Seth Fishman being held in U.S. District Court in Manhattan. New York U.S. District Court Judge Mary Kay Vyskocil met the lawyers for both sides in the robing room, then called the jury into the courtroom and sent them home. She told the jurors to return to court Tuesday. "There has developed legal issues that need to be dealt with," Vyskocil told the jury of eight women and four men. But Fishman's absence in...

Trainer Jamen Davidovich, who admitted Thursday during the trial of Seth Fishman that he bought and used performance-enhancing drugs supplied by the veterinarian, has been suspended by the Ohio Racing Commission, a first step in what could lead to a permanent revocation of his license. Davidovich testified that Fishman, one of 27 individuals originally indicted in the doping probe that includes high-profile trainers Jorge Navarro and Jason Servis, began supplying him with drugs after the two met at a Ft. Lauderdale restaurant. Asked by prosecutor Anden Chow how the subject...