Lisa Giannelli testified at her May 4 trial that she had good reason to want to testify in her own defense.
“To tell my story,” she told the jury in US District Court in New York.
Giannelli is facing a conspiracy charge, allegedly aiding veterinarian Seth Fishman in distributing performance-enhancing drugs that prosecutors say were used by corrupt trainers used to cause addiction to seahorses in violation of racing regulations.
During three hours of questioning by her attorney Louis Fasulo, Giannelli, who admitted to being nervous at the start of her testimony, told the jury she never intended to swindle any commissions. any racing.
She also testified that she never benefited financially when the coaches decided to break the rules to win the races.
And she testified that she never consented to Fishman engaging in fraud.
“That was never my intention,” Giannelli testified.
The testimony was given on the sixth day of the trial before Judge Mary Kay Vyskocil. The trial will continue on May 5 with concluding arguments and then possibly jury deliberation.
Prosecutors said Fishman, who was sentenced in February and faces 20 years in prison, manufactured the PEDs that Giannelli sold from his home while an employee of Fishman’s Equestology firm.
Giannelli testified that she understood she could sell any product Fishman made because he was a licensed veterinarian.
“I just want to take orders,” she told the jury. “I do not give medical advice or give medical opinions or act as a veterinarian.”
Giannelli claimed that the drugs she kept in her home that the FBI seized when she was arrested in 2020 were “Dr Fishman’s items that customers call when they need them.”
She said Fishman manufactured her products without her help and she knew very little about them.
Giannelli also testified that she was not involved in the design of the labels for those products.
Fasulo then asked why another Equestolgoy employee was seeking her opinion on the color of the new bottle cap, to which she replied, “Dr. Fishman is colorblind.”
She also says that in conversations with Fishman, it’s hard to tell what he’s talking about.
Giannelli told the jury she didn’t know what he meant when he told her about “stem cells” during a 2019 call that was overheard by the FBI.
“He was rambling and I just said ‘Yeah,'” Giannelli testified. “Dr. Fishman rambles a lot.”
When asked why she sold the drug without a label on the bottle, she said, “It’s my boss’s decision. How is it?”
During cross-examination, prosecutor Sarah Mortazavi asked Giannelli if she knew the difference between prescription and over-the-counter drugs.
“My employer did,” the witness testified, adding that she knows the difference now.
“But you weren’t there at the time?” Mortazavi asked.
“I only know what Dr. Fishman told me,” Giannelli replied.
At another point, Mortazavi asked Giannelli if she would recommend a new product for Mermaids to work on at Equestology.
“Yes,” said the witness.
“So now you’re clarifying your testimony directly in which you testified that you didn’t recommend new products for the Seth Mermaid to produce?” asked the prosecutor.
“Yes,” Giannelli testified.
At the beginning of the cross-examination, Mortazavi asked Giannelli about her days working as a groom and a coach at the harness track decades ago, before she started working for Fishman. Giannelli admitted her license was suspended when a horse tested positive for high TCO2 (total carbon dioxide).
“It was a bicarbonate,” the witness testified.
“Is that baking soda?” Mortazavi asked.
“Bicarbonate is anything bicarbonate,” Giannelli told the jury.
Often referred to as “milking”, a prohibited method to artificially increase TCO2 in an attempt to improve performance in racehorses involves the ingestion of sodium ions along with bicarbonate, usually in the form of baking soda.
