The former thoroughbred trainer Jason Servis was sentenced on Wednesday to four years in federal prison after pleading guilty to participating in what prosecutors called a far-reaching doping scheme meant to improve the performance of his horses.
Mr. Servis, whose horse Maximum Security was disqualified as the 2019 Kentucky Derby winner for interference, was the most prominent of more than 30 people charged in March 2020 as a result of a sweeping F.B.I. horse-doping investigation.
The inquiry came amid efforts inside and outside the sport to address a culture of performance-enhancing-drug use and lax regulation that has contributed to conditions in which racehorses in the United States break down and are euthanized at far higher rates than in other countries.
In imposing the sentence, Judge Mary Kay Vyskocil of Federal District Court in Manhattan said that Mr. Servis had “put the lives of the horses and the jockeys who rode them at risk.”
She added: “You did endanger the horses in your care. Luckily, they didn’t break down. You tried to gain an unfair advantage. I hope you accept that, but I don’t think that you do. At the end of the day, unquestionably, you undermined the integrity of horse racing.”
Mr. Servis, who was also ordered to pay $163,932 in restitution and a $30,000 fine, is to report to prison on Nov. 1. He addressed the court briefly during the hearing, which lasted more than two hours. He broke down in tears before reading his statement, and the judge asked if he wanted a break, but his lawyer, Rita Glavin, said he was able to proceed.
“No words can explain how remorseful and sorry I am over the decisions I’ve made and the people I’ve let down and the people I’ve hurt, mostly my wife and two sons,” he said as Ms. Glavin placed her hand his shoulder. “I will live with this for the rest of my life, and I am most truly sorry, and I throw myself at the mercy of the court.”
Mr. Servis pleaded guilty in December 2022 to two charges, one felony and one misdemeanor, related to the use of two banned substances: clenbuterol, a bronchodilator, and SGF-1000, a chemical compound that was said to promote stamina and endurance. He was sentenced to three years in prison for the felony charge and one year for the misdemeanor, to be served consecutively.
Four years was the maximum sentence that Judge Vyskocil could have levied against Mr. Servis, 66, for the guilty pleas on the two counts. Before entering into the plea agreement, Mr. Servis could have faced up to 25 years in prison had he been convicted on charges of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud.
“In my judgment, more than a 48-month sentence might be more appropriate,” Judge Vyskocil said.
Far removed from the barns in New Jersey, New York and Florida that he called home for more than two decades as a trainer, Mr. Servis, 66, looked out of place in the wood-paneled federal courthouse, forgoing his jeans and hat for a suit and tie. His wife, Natalie, and their two sons and the sons’ partners were at the court in Lower Manhattan. One of his sons and that son’s girlfriend worked for Mr. Servis.
Sarah Mortazavi, an assistant U.S. attorney, said Wednesday that Mr. Servis had not only used performance-enhancing drugs on horses including the star Maximum Security, he had also been slow to admit that he had done anything wrong. Judge Vyskocil added that Mr. Servis had lied to his horses’ owners, sending them bills disguising the use of SGF-1000 as “acupuncture and chiropractic,” and in particular telling Maximum Security’s owner, Gary West, that he “has never been on anything out of the ordinary.”
Part of Mr. Servis’s defense was that veterinarians had told him that it was not illegal to use SGF-1000 and that his offenses were relatively minor compared with the conduct of the others ensnared in the case.
Ms. Glavin told the court, “People have been sentenced to just 36 months or less for conduct that is far more egregious.”
In a statement, Damian Williams, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, said, “Today’s sentence sends a clear signal to those in the racehorse industry that no one is above the law.”
To address some of the sport’s problems, the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority was established in 2020 when the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act was signed into federal law. In May, the authority began to enforce strict medication rules and tougher punishments for violations.
Mr. Servis was one of more than 30 other defendants connected to Jorge Navarro, a trainer known as the Juice Man. Mr. Navarro was sentenced to five years in prison in December 2021 after pleading guilty to giving horses performance-enhancing drugs and distributing them to others. Mr. Servis and Mr. Navarro were caught on government wiretaps comparing notes on their doping programs, and Mr. Servis acquired a bronchodilator from Mr. Navarro that was said to be more potent than Clenbuterol.
Ed Shanahan contributed reporting.