Hearing today in federal doping case against Servis, Navarro
A status conference and arraignment are scheduled for 11 a.m. EST Tuesday in the case involving charges of illegal doping against trainers Jason Servis and Jorge Navarro and others in the horse-racing industry.
Largely procedural, the hearing is in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, and Horse Racing Nation will report on the proceedings after they conclude.
The trainers and 17 other defendants pleaded not guilty to the charges in April.
Navarro pleaded not guilty to two counts of drug alteration and misbranding conspiracy. Servis pleaded not guilty to a single count of drug alteration and misbranding conspiracy before federal judge Mary Kay Vyskocil.
Navarro and Servis were released on bail after being arrested March 9. They each face up to five years in prison if they are found guilty.
As T.D. Thornton of Thoroughbred Daily News reported, the prosecution and the defense filed letters last week that indicated how they will handle the evidence and trials.
Servis's attorneys said they expected to seek suppression of wiretaps, cellphone seizure ad post-arrest statements. The attorneys also said that, with seven terabytes of electronic discovery materials, "it will take substantial time to review" the evidence, Thornton reported.
Prosecutors outlined potential trial groupings for the current defendants, according to the report, with Navarro and Servis in separate groups.