Jason Servis expected to plead guilty on Friday

Jason Servis, one of two high-profile trainers among 27 people charged in a wide-ranging horse doping scandal unveiled in March 2020, will have a change-of-plea hearing Friday before a U.S. District judge in New York where he will presumably plead guilty for his role in the scheme, according to published reports.

The hearing will be held Friday at 11 a.m. before Mary Kay Vysckocil, a U.S. District Judge for the Southern District of New York.

Servis, best known as the trainer of Grade 1 winner Maximum Security, was scheduled to go on trial Jan. 9 where he faced charges of mail and wire fraud conspiracy, which was added in a superceding indictment filed in the fall of 2020. Servis was originally charged with three counts of felony drug misbranding.

The request for a change of plea from Servis came three days after veterinarian Alexander Chan had his change-of-plea hearing and entered a guilty plea to one felony count of conspiracy to commit drug misbranding or adulteration, which carries a maximum sentence of three years in prison. Chan, who will be sentenced on April 13, was scheduled to go on trial along with Servis in January.

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Chan was accused of distributing and administering a substance called SGF-1000 that was marketed as a “growth” stimulant, though regulators and chemists have cast doubt on its efficacy. His clients included Servis, prosecutors said.

According to the indictments, Servis was recorded on wiretaps as saying that he was administering SGF-1000 to “everything almost” in his barn, including Maximum Security, the champion 3-year-old colt of 2019. Maximum Security’s first win came in a maiden $16,000 claiming race.

In December 2021, Jorge Navarro, the other high-profile trainer involved in the horse-doping case, pleaded guilty to one felony charge of conspiracy to commit drug alteration or misbranding. Earlier this year, Navarro began serving a five-year prison sentence.

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