Indicted veterinarian Seth Fishman started to tell his story last week, both to a jury and to the Washington Post. Fishman, currently on trial in a federal courtroom in Manhattan for his role in a widespread scheme to dope racehorses, wants you to believe that he is an animal lover who was devoted to working for the benefit and health of the horses he treated. He wants you to believe that the drugs he dispersed were given to help and heal and not to improve performance.
“It will be for the government to prove that his intent and purpose was something other than limiting animal suffering.” Fishman's attorney Maurice Sercarz told the jury during opening arguments of Fishman's trial, which also includes his associate Lisa Giannelli.
The government has said otherwise, that he was a relentless horse doper, had close ties to Jorge Navarro and was obsessed with winning races and manufacturing drugs that were undetectable.
From Fishman's team, it's textbook stuff. Our client is misunderstood. There are two sides to every story. It's really horse racing that is dirty and not Seth Fishman.
The problem is, it would seem they don't have anything to back it up. The government has done its job and done it well. The original indictment includes a trove of evidence that Fishman was cold and calculating, with the government asserting he cared nothing about the animal and would inject a horse with anything he could find if he thought it would help the horse win a race and collect a purse. Their claims are backed by a treasure trove of evidence.
According to the original indictment, after X Y Jet (Kantharos) won the G1 Dubai Golden Shaheen, Fishman sent a text congratulating Navarro. Navarro replied: “Thank u boss u are a big part of it.” The reference, allegedly, is to Fishman's role in procuring drugs for Navarro to use on X Y Jet, who later dropped dead.
There's more, and, from the indictment, the government's conclusion is that treating and healing horses were not a part of Fishman's play book, despite his position as a veterinarian. The indictment charges that Fishman “did not perform medical examinations, provide a diagnosis, or otherwise evaluate the medical necessity of providing PEDs in advance of selling PEDs. Indeed, the administration of those PEDs was not intended to be therapeutic, but rather to increase the chances of winning horse races.”
Sunday, we learned that the government is requesting to enter into evidence charges that Fishman was investigated in Delaware more than a decade ago after a standardbred died after being injected with one of his products.
Yet, it appears that Fishman is intent on portraying himself as a heroic figure. In a Washington Post story that ran Wednesday, the reporter writes that Fishman depicts himself as “a sort of racetrack St. Francis of Assisi.” He also told the Post that the reason he continued to fight the charges was because “I'm going to take one for the team of veterinarians.”
According to the Post, Fishman defied his lawyer's wishes when granting an interview to the paper. No doubt, his legal team can't be pleased with what was a rambling, strange interview in which he did himself no favors and didn't present any credible evidence that has been wrongly accused. Rather, he stuck to the “I'm really an animal lover, please believe me” defense.
He goes on to claim that what this is really all about is the sport trying to make itself more attractive to bettors by offering a cleaner product…as if that is a bad thing.
From the Post story: “Fishman claimed that the real motive of those seeking regulatory reform was to make the sport more palatable for bettors by eradicating any foreign substances–at the expense of the animals. “I don't think the veterinary world should have to answer to a gambling product that seems to be getting more and more corrupt, not less corrupt,” Fishman said. “The animals' needs need to be put before the gamblers' needs.”
In another weird exchange with the Post, Fishman said that in another case, the feds had asked him to wear a wire in an attempt to catch racetrack cheats. He refused to do so, telling the paper that “to make them happy I would have had to violate two of the Ten Commandments. Just say for biblical reasons I couldn't do it.”
The trial will continue Monday, and unless his attorney has some sort of unforeseen trick up his sleeve, it appears that the defense strategy will be more of the same. Their defense is weak, but that's likely because it's all that they have.
It means they are hoping the jury will ignore the evidence presented by the government and buy into Fishman's claims that he's, well, not such a bad guy. According to Pew Research, fewer than 1% of all federal criminal cases result in the defendant taking their case to trial and winning. The most likely scenario is that the self-described animal lover will come out on the losing end here and his future includes a stint in a federal prison.
In Doping Trial, Are New Names About to Surface?
The opening day of testimony in the Fishman-Gianelli trial included what may turn out to be a bombshell, courtesy of the government lawyers. Prosecutor Anden Chow told jurors that the government's case would include the testimony of trainers who bought Fishman's drugs.
It was unclear what exactly that means, but what if it means that trainers who were not included in the original indictment are about to step forward and admit they bought PEDs from Fishman? Surely, Fishman sold his goods to many others not included in the indictment. If any new trainers do come forward, it's likely they worked out a deal with the government to avoid prosecution. But if anyone comes forward and admits using illegal PEDs, they would surely face sanctions from tracks and racing commissions, which, very well, could mean a lifetime ban.
Stay tuned.
Not a subscriber? Click here to sign up for the daily PDF or alerts.
