Garcia Set to Enter Guilty Plea in Federal Court
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Judge's gavel
Veterinarian Dr. Erica Garcia is scheduled to enter a guilty plea to a horse doping charge in United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. She was set for jury trial Sept. 12.
Judge Mary Kay Vyskocil, who presided over the doping trials of Seth Fishman and Lisa Giannelli, who were found guilty, and has sentenced numerous defendants who entered guilty pleas in the far-reaching set of cases, ordered July 29 that Garcia appear on Aug. 1 for the purpose of changing her original plea of not guilty.
Her attorney, Deborah Colson, told BloodHorse Garcia will plead guilty to misdemeanor drug misbranding.
Garcia was charged with conspiring to illegally procure and administer performance-enhancing drugs to race horses from 2016 to 2020 at the direction of Jorge Navarro, the former trainer who is serving a five-year sentence for illegally using PEDs. The allegations came in a superseding indictment returned in November 2020.
Aside from Garcia, among 14 defendants charged with related unlawful activities in the superseding indictment, former trainer Jason Servis and Alexander Chan are the only ones who have not been convicted by a jury or entered a guilty plea. They are scheduled for trial on Jan. 9.
EDITOR'S NOTE: The original version of this story stated Garcia is a suspended veterinarian. Her attorney informed BloodHorse that she is not suspended and has a full-time practice.