Racing trainer that won €30m faces deportation after prison stint for doping
The 50-year-old was granted early release from a federal prison in Florida after serving three years and three months of a five-year sentence for admitting to doping horses.
Navarro was a key figure in a widespread 2020 doping scandal that saw more than 20 individuals charged, including Maximum Security trainer Jason Servis, who also received a prison sentence.
These charges stemmed from a 2020 FBI investigation into the extensive use of performance-enhancing drugs involving a group of trainers, vets and drug distributors at racecourses across the USA and in the UAE.
"I was the organiser for a criminal activity that involved five or more participants. I coordinated the administration of non-FDA approved drugs that were misbranded or adulterated to horses under my care," he told the court in 2021. "I abused a position of trust as I was a licensed horse trainer and the horses were in my custody at the time."
The Department of Justice stated that Navarro, who trained over 1,200 winners with earnings close to €30million, "operated his doping scheme covertly, importing misbranded 'clenbuterol' that he both used and distributed to others, avoiding explicit discussion of PEDs during telephone calls, and working with others to coordinate the administration of PEDs at times that racing officials would not detect such cheating."
One of the horses he doped was X Y Jet, winner of the valuable 2019 Golden Shaheen in Dubai. Among his preferred PEDs were various 'blood-building' drugs, which, when administered before intense physical exertion, can lead to cardiac issues or death. X Y Jet died of an apparent heart attack in 2020, reports the Mirror.
Navarro won seven straight trainers' titles at Monmouth Park through 2019, but agreed to pay just under €23m in restitution four years ago, reflecting winnings tied to doping.
At the time, New York district attorney Audrey Strauss described Navarro as: "A reckless fraudster whose veneer of success relied on the systematic abuse of the animals under his control."
He earned the nickname 'Juice Man' following a viral video where he celebrated a winning horse trained by his brother, with a mate exclaiming "Juice Man!" and quipping: "That's the juice."
Navarro was released from federal prison in Miami on Wednesday but now faces the threat of deportation, as the Panama native doesn't have US citizenship.
Speaking after his release, Navarro's lawyer, Jason Kreiss, said: "Because of the fact he is not a US citizen, he is ineligible for the programs that others can take advantage of. Deportation is certainly a concern with this administration.
"That's what we don't know. What is ICE is going to do with him at this point? With this administration these types of situations are very unpredictable.
"In the past he would have most likely been released and if there was an immigration detainer, he'd be able to post a bond on the immigration detainer. With this administration and their denial of due process for non-US citizens we just don't know what's going to happen."
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