The horse racing empire of trainer Jorge Navarro, which turned out to be built on pillars of fraud and performance-enhancing drugs, came tumbling down Dec. 17 in a Manhattan federal courtroom
U.S. District Court Judge Mary Kay Vyskocil sentenced Navarro to a five-year prison term for playing a central role in a conspiracy to distribute and administer misbranded and adulterated drugs to racehorses to win races. Under the terms of the sentence handed down Friday in New York, Vyskocil ordered that Navarro report to a yet to be determined prison in 60 days to serve his time, likely in Florida.
Navarro and trainer and co-defendant Jason Servis were the most well-known names in a March 9, 2020, indictment that has brought charges against 29 individuals for conspiring to dope racehorses. The 46-year-old Navarro is the 10th to plead guilty.
Showing little compassion for Navarro's courtroom words that he "took full responsibility" for his actions and apologized "to all of the people I hurt," Vyskocil leveled the full 60-month term as listed in the sentencing guidelines. Calling Navarro's actions "cruel and fraudulent," she said that if allowed, she would have imposed a harsher sentence. She said Navarro's actions could have resulted in a 168- to 210-month term if not for sentencing guidelines.
"These crimes are serious, dangerous, cold, and calculating," she said Friday inside the U.S. District Court Southern District of New York courtroom. "For years you cheated, Mr. Navarro, and stole millions of dollars from others (in the sport)."
She also blasted Navarro for years of brazenly laughing about charges that he used performance-enhancing drugs to win a 28% clip while capturing seven straight Monmouth Park training titles in his 12-year career while engaging in harmful and potentially deadly practices toward his horses.
"You killed and endangered horses in your care and endangered the lives of the jockeys who rode your horses and rode against you," she said. "You bragged openly about what you did. You sent collaborators emojis representing the drugs you used on your horses. You were so openly notorious and brazen that you were dubbed 'The Juice Man.' This was not a momentary lapse of judgment. You injured the reputation of the sport of horse racing that you claimed to have loved and showed no concern for the animals under your care."
During the proceedings, U.S. assistant district attorney Sarah Mortazavi expressed shock that roughly 100 pages worth of letters were submitted by supporters on Navarro's behalf in hopes of securing a more lenient sentence.
"It was shocking to read those letters of support which said he provided his horses with tender loving care," Mortazavi said. "He relied on a bevy of drugs. He asked for tips on drugs and whether they worked, not what was in them. He didn't care about the risk to the animal. He didn't care about overdosing an animal so that its heart stopped. He only cared about winning and not getting caught. His reputation was built on a sprawling fraud that was dishonest, unprincipled, and dangerous."
Wearing a gray business suit, with about 10 family and friends in attendance, Navarro's voice cracked as he addressed the court and told Vyskocil that he alone was responsible for his actions. It was a moment in time far removed from the bravado Navarro displayed during his heyday at the racetrack when he would win races in bunches and then chuckle at skeptics who wondered out loud if he was cheating.
"What I did to myself and others was because of the pressures of winning. I became hungry to be a winner without thinking of the consequences. I lost my way," he said. "I take full responsibility and apologize to all the people I hurt. I should have quit, but I couldn't handle the pressure. I am now facing prison and deportation and during my time away from the track (since March 2020), I have become a better man."
Navarro, who was born in Panama, is a permanent resident of the United States with a green card. During Friday's session, Vyskocil noted that Navarro's record includes a DUI charge and a domestic violence incident.
Vyskocil originally gave Navarro a Jan. 18 date to report to prison but agreed to a request from defense attorney Jason Kreiss to extend the period to 60 days.
Aside from the jail term, Navarro, who changed his plea to guilty in August and is likely to provide evidence that will incriminate other defendants, will be subjected to one to three years of supervised release, though there is a possibility he could ultimately be deported to Panama. Vyskocil added that she was not barring Navarro from applying for a trainer's license once he completes his sentence.
Should he wish one day to return to the sport, regulators would then determine whether to grant him a license. He is currently suspended, as are others indicted in the case.
He has also paid a $70,000 forfeiture and faces $25,860,514 in restitution. Vyskocil said because of the staggering amount of restitution, she did not believe Navarro could pay a fine and did not impose one.
Including Navarro's $70,000, there have already been forfeitures of $13,099,784 in the case.
In addressing how the restitution would be distributed, Mortazavi and Vyskocil both said that racetracks would be first in the pecking order so the connections of horses who finished behind Navarro's runners could receive enhanced shares of purse money. Neither provided any details on exactly how that would happen.
It was mentioned Friday that the Navarro horses who raced with PEDs included War Story, Shancelot , Sharp Azteca, and Nanoosh, plus X Y Jet, who died in January 2020. Navarro said in a statement that winter that the horse perished from a heart attack.
Navarro won 1,224 races and his horses earned $34.8 million in purses before his March 9, 2020, indictment.
The sentencing closes the Navarro chapter in an investigation that began about 4 1/2 years ago when The Jockey Club brought in 5 Stones Intelligence to investigate the use of PEDs through misbranded and adulterated drugs by horsemen, veterinarians, and drug suppliers.
Information from 5 Stones led to an FBI investigation that relied heavily on the use of wiretaps that painted a damning picture of the defendants' actions. In a sense, Navarro's own words convicted him since the case might have been harder to prove without them. Surveillance showed how some of the drugs were administered between 2 a.m. and 4 a.m. when the barn areas were quiet and empty.
While key defendants such as Servis and Seth Fishman submitted not guilty pleas and are awaiting their trials in the first quarter of 2022, the now 21-month old indictments do not figure to be the last for nefarious horsemen in the racing industry. Sources close to the investigation indicate another round of indictments could be announced by mid-2022.
"Jorge Navarro's case reflects failings, greed, and corruption at virtually every level of the world of professional horse racing," said U.S. Attorney Damian Williams in a release distributed Friday afternoon. "For money and fame, corrupt trainers went to increasing extremes to dope horses under their care. Unscrupulous owners, who stood to profit directly, encouraged and pressured trainers to win at any cost. Veterinarians sworn to the care and protection of their patients routinely violated their oaths in service of corrupt trainers and to line their own pockets. Assistants and grooms all witnessed animal abuse in the service of greed, but did little to stop such conduct, and engaged in myriad ways to support notoriously corrupt trainers.
"Structures designed for the protection of the horses abused in this case failed repeatedly; fixtures of the industry—owners, veterinarians, and trainers—flouted rules and disregarded their animals' health while hypocritically incanting a love for the horses under their control and ostensible protection. Standing as the keystone for this structure of abuse, corruption, and duplicity was Jorge Navarro, a trainer who treated his animals as expendable commodities in the service of his 'sport.' Today's sentence appropriately condemns the danger inherent in Navarro's crime and reflects the seriousness with which this office takes the kind of abuse that Navarro practiced."
In detailing her reasoning for the full, five-year sentence, Vyskocil voiced hope that the specter of a long prison sentence and financial ruin would send a message to other horsemen who are either involved in, or are pondering cheating.
"The 60-month sentence was necessary to send a message to participants in the horse racing industry that abuse, fraud, and stealing opportunities from others will not be tolerated and will result in serious consequences," she said.
James Gagliano, president and chief operating officer of The Jockey Club, also expressed hope that the conviction and sentencing will persuade others to avoid practices that could lead to the same fate as the one that awaits Navarro.
"We remain grateful to the federal prosecutors and investigators for their hard work and diligence in bringing the case to a successful conclusion," Gagliano said. "I hope everyone in our sport takes note of the judge's comments about the seriousness of these crimes."
| Status of Defendants in Navarro/Servis Misbranding Conspiracy | ||||||
| Name | Pending Trial Date | Counts | Plea Type | Final Disposition | Forfeiture | Restitution |
| Jorge Navarro | N/A | 2 Misbranding Conspiracy | Guilty | Sentenced 5 years | 70,000 | 25,860,514 |
| Erica Garcia | Late 1st quarter 2022 | 1 Misbranding Conspiracy | Not Guilty | |||
| Marcos Zulueta | N/A | 1 Misbranding Conspiracy | Guilty | Sentence Pending | 47,525 | |
| Michael Tannuzzo | Late 1st quarter 2022 | 1 Misbranding Conspiracy | Not Guilty | |||
| Michael Kegley | N/A | 1 Misbranding Conspiracy | Guilty | Sentence Pending | ||
| Jordan Fishman | N/A | 1 Misbranding Conspiracy | Guilty | Sentence Pending | ||
| Rick Dane Jr. | On or about 1/19/22 | 1 Misbranding Conspiracy | Not Guilty | |||
| Nicholas Surick | Unknown | 1 Misbranding Conspiracy, 2 Obstruction | Sealed document | Unknown disposition | Unknown | Unknown |
| Gregory Skelton | Unknown | 1 Misbranding Conspiracy | Sealed document | Unknown disposition | Unknown | Unknown |
| Ross Cohen | Unknown | 1 Misbranding Conspiracy | Sealed document | Unknown disposition | Unknown | Unknown |
| Henry Argueta | Unknown | 1 Misbranding Conspiracy | Sealed document | Unknown disposition | Unknown | Unknown |
| Christopher Marino | Unknown | 1 Misbranding Conspiracy | Sealed document | Unknown disposition | Unknown | Unknown |
| Christopher Oakes | N/A | 1 Misbranding Conspiracy | Guilty | Sentence Pending Feb. 17, 2022 | ||
| Jason Servis | Late 1st quarter 2022 | 1 Misbranding Conspiracy | Not Guilty | |||
| Kristian Rhein | N/A | 1 Misbranding Conspiracy | Guilty | Sentence Pending | $1,021,800 | $729,716 |
| Alexander Chan | Late 1st quarter 2022 | 1 Misbranding Conspiracy | Not Guilty | |||
| Rebecca Linke | On or about 1/19/22 | 1 Misbranding Conspiracy | Not Guilty | |||
| Seth Fishman | 1/19/2022, Hearing 12/20/21 | 2 Misbranding Conspiracy | Not Guilty | |||
| Lisa Giannelli | On or about 1/19/22 | 1 Misbranding Conspiracy | Not Guilty | |||
| Scott Mangini | N/A | 2 Misbranding Conspiracy | Guilty | Sentenced to 18 months | $8,108,141 | |
| Sarah Izhaki | N/A | 1 Misbranding Conspiracy, 1 Smuggling | Guilty | Sentenced to time served plus 3 years of supervised release | ||
| Scott Robinson | N/A | 2 Misbranding Conspiracy | Guilty | Sentenced to 18 months | $3,832,318.90 | |
| Louis Grasso (facing separate indictment) | 1 Misbranding Conspiracy | |||||
| Thomas Guido III (facing separate indictment) | 1 Misbranding Conspiracy | |||||
| Conor Flynn (facing separate indictment) | 1 Misbranding Conspiracy | |||||
| Donato Poliseno (facing separate indictment) | 1 Misbranding Conspiracy | |||||
| Ashley Lebowitz (facing separate indictment) | 1 Misbranding Conspiracy | |||||
| Jeremy Delk | N/A | Unlawful Distribution of Prescription Drugs | Guilty | Sentenced 3 years probation, 4 months home incarceration, 100 hours of community service | $20,000 | |
