Judge rejects Fishman's claim of 'double jeopardy'

A federal judge has denied a motion from the convicted veterinarian Seth Fishman to have one of the two counts in his conviction thrown out, according to court records.

Judge Mary Kay Vyskocil of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York denied the motion on the grounds that prosecutors in his trial had proved that Fishman engaged in two separate conspiracies. A jury found Fishman guilty on two counts of conspiracy to commit drug adulteration or misbranding in February. Vyskocil presided over the trial.

An attorney for Fishman, Maurice Sercarz, filed the motion to dismiss one of the counts following the trial, arguing that the facts underlying both conspiracies were identical and that sentencing on both counts would violate the constitutional clause prohibiting "double jeopardy,” or being tried for the same crime twice.

But Vyskocil rejected that argument, writing in her ruling that Fishman ran his own conspiracy to manufacture and distribute adulterated drugs while also conspiring with trainer Jorge Navarro, who entered a guilty plea on two counts of the same crime and is currently serving a five-year sentence in prison.

“The court has no trouble concluding that a rational trier of fact could find that Seth Fishman ran his own conspiracy and agreed to participate in Navarro’s separate conspiracy,” Vyskocil wrote.

The maximum sentence for a conviction on both charges is 20 years. Fishman is scheduled to be sentenced June 30.