Former trainer Zulueta sentenced to 33 months; Jason Servis trial pushed to 2023

Trainer Marcos Zulueta, one of more than two dozen individuals connected to racing who were indicted in 2020, was sentenced on Thursday to 33 months in prison after pleading guilty to one count of adulteration and misbranding of drugs with intent to defraud, according to court documents.

Zulueta, a 53-year-old native of Cuba, was ordered by Judge Mary Kay Vyskocil of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York to report to prison on May 24, according to the documents. He was also sentenced to one year of parole after being released.

Zulueta was one of a number of trainers named in the 2020 indictment, and prosecutors alleged that he bought and administered illegal substances to racehorses. In a number of wiretaps, Zulueta was said to be discussing “doping” of racehorses with the trainer Jorge Navarro, who was sentenced to five years in prison last year after pleading guilty to a similar charge. Prosecutors said Zulueta played a key role in assisting Navarro in learning how to administer the substances.

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Zulueta, who was based in Pennsylvania, had 455 career wins from 1,884 starts, for a strike rate of 24 percent. His best year was 2016, when he won 84 races from 315 starts and had purse earnings of $2.5 million.

Zulueta was also ordered to forfeit $47,525. Prosecutors said that the amount represented purse earnings from races in which he administered the illegal substances.

Zulueta was sentenced on the same day that Vyskocil held a status conference for a number of the individuals who have been indicted but have not yet entered a guilty plea or had a trial scheduled. One of those individuals is Jason Servis, the trainer of 2019 champion 3-year-old colt Maximum Security.

According to the Blood-Horse, Vyskocil set a trial date for Servis for early 2023. Servis was initially scheduled to go to trial later this year, but his attorney, Rita Glavin, is representing another client in a trial scheduled to start in the summer, according to the Blood-Horse, necessitating the push-back.