NEW YORK (1010 WINS) — A Florida man was sentenced to 11 years in prison Monday for his role in a nearly 20-year scheme where dozens of people made, marketed and sold “untestable” performance enhancing drugs used on racehorses both nationally and internationally, officials said.
“The sentence today sends a strong message that those looking to profit from the sale of illegal drugs intended to corruptly dope racehorses stand to face serious consequences for their crimes,” said U.S. Attorney Damian Williams. “The defendant earned his livelihood in service of greed and animal abuse, and will face a steep price for his crimes.”
Seth Fishman, 51, was a licensed veterinarian who operated a doping company called Equestology for nearly two decades. Through his work as veterinarian, Fishman peddled dozens of unsafe and untested drugs that allegedly had performance-enhancing effects on racehorses. Fishman would make and market the drugs as “untestable” under typical anti-doping drug screens, officials said.
Fishman specifically targeted those in the racehorse industry by toting his method of creating customized products for individual customers. The corrupt veterinarian used his license as a cover for his illegal drug manufacturing business, selling illicit drugs, including prescription drugs, under phony prescriptions for animals that he never saw or discussed.
Fishman would sell these drugs, both intravenous and intramuscular injectables, to laypeople for injection into the horses under their supposed “care.” The drugs included “blood building” drugs (“BB3” and other Epogen-mimetic substances), vasodilators (“VO2Max”), and bags filled with scores of “bleeder pills,” each designed to covertly increase performance in affected horses.
In attempts to avoid authorities, Fishman incorporated a bogus business in Panama designed to appear as if his drug operation was outside the jurisdiction of U.S. authorities. He also pressured employees to sign non-disclosure agreements intended to gag them if they were questioned by regulators. Fishman also designed labels that would would make it unclear where the drugs were made and he also lied to state investigators about the nature of his business when asked directly about his role in Equestology during a Delaware state investigation in 2011 all the while bragging to others that he’d called in a “personal political favor” to quash that investigation.
Fishman was one of over 30 people charged in four separate cases in March 2020 stemming from a years-long investigation of the interconnected schemes which included racehorse trainers, veterinarians, performance enhancing drug (“PED”) distributors, and others. The overall goal of the scheme was for the racehorses to improve performance, win races and get the prize money and in turn everyone got a cut. The horses competed in racetracks throughout the United States—including in New York, New Jersey, Florida, Ohio, Kentucky—as well as in the United Arab Emirates.
The Florida man was convicted of two counts of participation in drug adulteration and misbranding conspiracies.
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