U. S. Attorneys: Sufficient Probable Cause for Wiretaps

In a Sept. 2 court filing U.S. Attorneys argue that the government had sufficient probable cause for wiretaps and property searches of numerous defendants in an ongoing horse-doping case.

The group of defendants seeking to suppress the wiretaps includes suspended trainer Jason Servis, one of the leading trainers in North America before his indictment and suspension from racing in March 2020.

The government's 155-page omnibus brief filed in the Southern District of New York followed motions to suppress such evidence filed last month from seven of the defendants, who are alleged to have contributed to the sale, use, or distribution of adulterated and misbranded performance-enhancing drugs. More than two dozen individuals have been charged, with some, such as prominent trainer Jorge Navarro, changing pleas from not guilty to guilty in recent months. Navarro faces up to five years in prison when he is sentenced later this year.

Navarro's plea change last month came less than two weeks after U.S. District Judge Mary Kay Vyskocil denied his attorney's request to suppress wiretap evidence July 30.

An Aug. 2 motion filed by Servis attorneys Rita Glavin and Michael Considine seeks to suppress the wiretap evidence. They wrote that federal investigators made "deliberately or recklessly false statements" regarding an alleged performance-enhancing substance called SGF-1000 and the bronchodilator clenbuterol. Additionally, they argued the government had not exhausted other traditional investigative techniques before requesting the authority to conduct wiretaps and claimed the government used information from "previous illegal wiretaps" to gain authorization to intercept calls to Servis' phone.

SGF-1000 is a formulation of amino acids derived from sheep placenta that was compounded and sold in Kentucky by Medivet Equine and Tailor Made Compounding, a company not affiliated with Taylor Made Farm. The product was marketed to accelerate healing and have an anabolic effect on bone growth in horses, though its effectiveness is questioned.

Besides Navarro, former New York-based veterinarian Dr. Kristian Rhein changed his plea from not guilty to guilty last month. He faces up to a maximum of up to three years in prison and a $10,000 fine. 

In their Thursday-filed brief, prosecutors cited a conversation between Rhein and Servis as one basis for interception of Servis' phone, noting the two discussed the Servis-trained Maximum Security   and the trainer's concern over out-of-competition testing that took place at Monmouth Park in June 2019.

Maximum Security became the champion 3-year-old male for Servis and owners Gary and Mary West in 2019. After Servis' indictment, the colt moved into the barn of trainer Bob Baffert. Rhein reassured Servis in June 2019 that the SGF-1000 would not show up on drug tests, or at most would trigger a false test result for dexamethasone, a commonly used anti-inflammatory.

"On the same day, following his conversation with Rhein, Servis placed a call to another individual regarding falsely listing 'dex' on veterinary records to obscure his use of SGF-1000—the drug that Servis now claims was innocuous," prosecutors wrote.

The individual was not identified.

Prosecutors further allege that Navarro had a corrupt relationship with an unnamed racetrack security official—with neither the track nor the location specified—and that Navarro believed Servis had a similar relationship.

The U.S. attorneys further allege that Servis participated in Navarro's doping scheme by receiving an unspecified, irregular version of clenbuterol. Clenbuterol is sometimes prescribed to treat lower-airway disease, but many regulators have restricted its use because of its muscle-building potential.

Vyskocil previously denied motions to suppress from a group of other defendants in the case, citing the "intent to defraud or mislead" government agencies that regulate drugs.