The United States Second Circuit Court of Appeals relieved former veterinarian Seth Fishman of a horse doping forfeiture order of about $10 million, remanded a $25 million restitution order to a lower court, but refused to overturn Fishman's underlying conviction and sentence.
Fishman and his former assistant Lisa Giannelli were among more than two dozen horsemen and others accused of doping horses in a federal indictment brought in New York about five years ago. Theirs were the only cases taken to a trial by jury, and both were convicted. Fishman was sentenced to 11 years' incarceration in July 2022. Giannelli was handed a 3 1/2-year sentence the following September.
Both defendants appealed, leading to the appellate court order released Sept. 22.
The court of appeals ruling vacates a forfeiture order entered by a U.S. District Court in Manhattan and is based on a legal conclusion that the lower court improperly relied upon an inapplicable statute in reaching its decision.
The appellate court held the lower court exceeded its discretion when it ordered restitution of more than $25 million be paid to tracks, finding that the tracks, which had to pay purses whether horses later found to be doped won or not, had not sustained any damages; and that there was no evidence in the record showing the tracks had the wherewithal or legal ability to act as clearinghouses by making restitution to what the court termed "losing competitors."
"We vacate and remand for the district court to reconsider the issue of restitution in light of this analysis," wrote the unanimous three-judge panel.
Fishman is imprisoned at the Miami Federal Correctional Institute and has a prospective release date of June 29, 2030, according to the Bureau of Prisons database. Giannelli, whose conviction was also affirmed by the appellate court, served out her sentence Jan. 29 after being granted various credits built into federal law.
Jorge Navarro and Jason Servis, the most prominent trainers caught up in the scandal, pleaded guilty and were sentenced to five years and four years, respectively. Navarro, a native of Panama, was released earlier this year and is in federal immigration custody at the Denver Contract Detention Center. Servis, whose sentencing occurred in July 2023, is in Bureau of Prisons custody at the Miami Residential Reentry Management field office and is scheduled for release May 17, 2026.
A portion of the doping scandal that has been hidden from public view is a list of those said to have been harmed by Fishman's actions. That list has been sealed since its inception, and the appellate court shot down Fishman's quest to unseal it.
"Additionally, we deny Fishman’s motion to unseal the list of purported victims in the district court as MOOT in light of our decision to vacate the district court’s restitution order and remand for reconsideration," the opinion says.
