List of Horse Trainers Indicted in the Federal Doping Case

The horse trainers indicted in the federal doping case were charged in March 2020, when the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York unsealed four indictments naming 27 people across thoroughbred and standardbred racing. Later superseding indictments pushed the total past 30. Most defendants pleaded guilty. A few went to trial and were convicted. Prison sentences ran from 10 months to 11 years, with the longest going to the veterinarian who manufactured the drugs rather than to any trainer.

How the Case Came Together

The charges grew out of a multi-year FBI investigation into performance-enhancing drugs designed to evade post-race testing. Agents used wiretaps and searches of training barns to document trainers and veterinarians discussing undetectable substances, hiding their use from horse owners, and working around regulatory drug screens. The scheme crossed state lines and, in some instances, involved drugs sourced from abroad.¹

The Trainers Charged and What They Received

The following trainers were among those named in the 2020 indictments. Sentences reflect the final judgments entered by the court.

Jorge Navarro was the most high-profile trainer charged. He conditioned XY Jet, winner of the Dubai Golden Shaheen, and prosecutors described his program as built on systematic doping. Navarro pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute and administer misbranded drugs. He was sentenced to five years in federal prison. Prosecutors sought $25.8 million in restitution to owners cheated out of purse money, plus a $70,000 fine.
Jason Servis trained Maximum Security, the horse first across the line at the 2019 Kentucky Derby. Servis pleaded guilty to two counts related to banned substances and was sentenced to four years in prison, with $163,932 in restitution and a $30,000 fine. He obtained hundreds of bottles of SGF-1000, an intravenous growth-factor product marketed as undetectable, and gave it to virtually every horse in his barn. He hid the cost from owners by billing under fake line items such as “Acupuncture & Chiropractic.”¹
Nicholas Surick pleaded guilty to two counts of conspiracy to misbrand and adulterate drugs and one count of obstruction of justice for concealing a horse from regulators. He was sentenced to five years and two months, one of the longest terms handed to a trainer.
Richard Banca trained both thoroughbreds and standardbreds. When the FBI searched his barn, agents recovered illegal substances and handwritten dosing instructions. He pleaded guilty to one count of drug adulteration and misbranding and was sentenced to 30 months, fined $10,000, and ordered to forfeit $120,975.
Marcos Zulueta pleaded guilty to one count of drug adulteration and misbranding and was sentenced to 33 months.
Christopher Oakes, a harness racing trainer, was sentenced to three years in federal prison.
Rick Dane Jr. pleaded guilty to a single count of drug adulteration and misbranding. He was sentenced to 30 months and hit with a forfeiture judgment of $33,912.
Erica Garcia pleaded guilty and received the lightest sentence in the group, 10 months in prison followed by one year of supervised release.
Michael Tannuzzo pleaded guilty to one count of adulteration and misbranding of drugs, with sentencing scheduled after the plea.

One other figure belongs in this list even though he was not a trainer. Kristian Rhein, a veterinarian, worked directly with Jason Servis to administer and distribute SGF-1000 and clenbuterol. He pleaded guilty and was sentenced to three years in prison, with $1,021,800 in forfeitures and $729,716 in restitution.

The Suppliers Behind the Trainers

Two defendants received the harshest sentences in the entire case, and neither was a trainer. Both manufactured or sold the drugs the trainers used.

Seth Fishman, a licensed veterinarian, developed performance-enhancing drugs built to slip past drug tests and sold them to trainers, including Navarro, from at least 2016 through 2020. He rejected a plea deal, went to trial, and was convicted of conspiracy to manufacture and distribute misbranded and adulterated drugs with intent to defraud. The court sentenced him to 132 months, or 11 years, the longest sentence in the case.²

Lisa Giannelli, Fishman’s salesperson, ran a company called Equestology that shipped the drugs to trainers without prescriptions or any verification of medical need. She was also convicted at trial and sentenced to 42 months. Prosecutors described her role as part of a roughly 20-year scheme.² Both Fishman and Giannelli appealed. In September 2025, the Second Circuit affirmed their convictions and sentences.

The Charges That Produced Those Sentences

The indictments rested on two main federal charges. The more common was drug adulteration and misbranding under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, which bars distributing drugs that lack FDA approval or carry false labeling. A basic violation carries up to a year; with intent to defraud, the ceiling rises to three years per count.³ Conspiracy to violate the FDCA carries up to five years on its own, which is why several trainers received terms longer than the three-year misbranding maximum.

One of the four indictments added a conspiracy to commit wire fraud charge, alleging that defendants used interstate communications to cheat racing organizations and the betting public out of prize money.⁴ Wire fraud carries a maximum of 20 years.⁵ Some defendants also faced obstruction charges for hiding horses from regulators or destroying evidence.

Money Owed on Top of Prison Time

Restitution and forfeiture are separate consequences, and both hit defendants in this case. Restitution goes to the people who lost money because of the cheating, mostly competing owners who missed out on purse money from fixed or tainted races. Forfeiture takes the proceeds of the criminal activity itself. Rhein faced over $1 million in forfeitures. Banca owed roughly $121,000, Dane about $34,000, and Servis $163,932 in restitution plus a $30,000 fine.¹ Amounts varied with how many races each trainer won while doping and how long the conduct went on.

Licensing and Regulatory Fallout

A federal indictment for doping typically triggers action from state racing commissions and, now, the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority. Suspension or revocation of a trainer’s license often happens well before the criminal case ends, because regulators do not need a conviction to pull a license. HISA’s enforcement arm, the Horseracing Integrity and Welfare Unit, pursues disqualification of horses from past results, purse forfeitures, periods of ineligibility, and fines.⁶ These administrative penalties run independently of the criminal case, so an acquittal in federal court does not restore a license or return forfeited winnings. Under HISA enforcement rules that took effect in January 2026, a trainer who misses a deadline to repay a purse or pay a fine faces automatic suspension from all racing.⁷

1
Food and Drug Administration. Thoroughbred Racehorse Trainer Jason Servis Sentenced to Four Years in Prison
2
Justia. United States v Fishman, No. 22-1600 (2d Cir. 2025)
3
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 21 USC 333 – Penalties
4
United States District Court Southern District of New York. United States v Navarro – Opinion and Order Denying Motions to Dismiss
5
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 1343 – Fraud by Wire, Radio, or Television
6
Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority. HISA and HIWU Pursue Cases Against Veterinarian and 13 Trainers in Widespread Conspiracy
7
Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority. HISA Announces FTC Approval of Modified Enforcement Rules