Jury selection begins in federal horse-doping trial

NEW YORK - The process to select a jury began Wednesday in the trial of a veterinarian and his business associate charged with manufacturing and selling adulterated and misbranded drugs designed to enhance performance in Thoroughbred and Standardbred horses.

But only 37 of the prospective 75 jurors made it through their interviews, meaning the process was to continue Thursday morning in a Manhattan courthouse.

Seth Fishman, a licensed veterinarian, and his associate Lisa Giannelli are the first two defendants to go to a trial in a federal horse-doping case that involved more than two dozen defendants and was first unsealed in March 2020.

Fishman faces two counts of conspiracy to commit drug adulteration and misbranding, and two counts of conspiracy to defraud the United States, while Giannelli is charged with one count of each.

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Among those in the case to have pleaded guilty and have already been sentenced are trainer Jorge Navarro (five years), veterinarian Kristian Rhein (three years), and supplier Michael Kegley (30 months).

Among those who have pleaded not guilty and are expected to go on trial later this year is trainer Jason Servis, who is alleged to have worked in concert with Rhein and Navarro to obtain and administer misbranded and adulterated drugs to horses, including the multiple Grade 1 winner Maximum Security.

Wednesday, in a marathon session in a federal courthouse in Manhattan, U.S. District Judge Mary Kay Vyskocil interviewed 37 of a pool of 75 prospective jurors. The case seat 12 jurors and four alternates.

The prospective jurors were given a sheet of 72 questions. To any question that the prospective juror would answer yes, he or she would have to give an explanation. The questions included whether a person owned a pet and whether their experience with a veterinarian would cause them an issue of being fair and impartial in this case. Other questions involved a person’s potential involvement with the Food and Drug Administration as well any ties to horse racing, including whether they have owned racehorses, have attended or watched racing television, and wagered on a race.

Of the first 37 jurors interviewed, nine were excused for various reasons. The remaining 38 prospective jurors were scheduled to return to court to be interviewed on Thursday morning at 9:30 with the hopes of seating a jury later that afternoon.

Vyskocil said jurors should expect the case to last three weeks.

In the original indictment, the government alleged that Fishman, Giannelli, Jordan Fishman (no relation to Seth), and Rick Dane Jr., created, marketed and distributed a variety of PEDs, which were manufactured in an unregistered facility, mislabeled and/or administered with no valid prescription.

The government charged that Seth Fishman would promote his blood-building PEDs as undetectable on drug tests administered by state regulators and racing officials.

Giannelli and Dane worked with Seth Fishman to distribute adulterated and misbranded PEDS developed by Fishman to racehorse trainers and others seeking to dope their racehorses, including providing Fishman’s PEDs to trainers in and around New York state.

The original indictment included an April 5, 2019 conversation Fishman had with a prospective customer ­- identified as only Individual-1 - who asked if administering the PEDs was considered doping.

“[A]ny time you give something to a horse, that’s doping,” Fishman told the customer. “Whether or not they test for it is another story. … [D]on’t kid yourself: if you’re giving something to a horse to make it better, and you’re not supposed to do that … that’s doping. You know, whether or not its testable, that’s a different story.”