‘Disabled’ Boston Firefighter Acquitted of Fraud Despite Bodybuilding Pics
- Posted on August 16, 2011 at 1:47pm by
Christopher Santarelli
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A former Boston firefighter who participated in a bodybuilding contest after claiming he was permanently disabled has been found not guilty of fraud. WBZ reports on the stunning acquittal of Albert Arroyo and reaction from New Englanders:
A federal jury acquitted Albert Arroyo on Monday, two weeks after he pleaded not guilty to mail fraud for what prosecutors say was an attempt to collect a tax-free accidental disability he was not entitled to receive.
Arroyo claimed he was disabled when he hurt his back in a fall at a Boston fire station in March 2008. He was seen two months later participating in a bodybuilding contest.
Prosecutors said Arroyo didn’t disclose the activity on his disability pension application, where he sought to collect an annual tax-free pension of $65,000.
“Taxpayers expect an honest day’s work for a fair day’s pay from every public servant,” U.S. Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz said to the Boston Globe. “We will continue to investigate and prosecute allegations of these types of frauds.”
His attorney, Timothy Watkins, said that bodybuilding was good for Arroyo’s back injury.
Watkins said Monday they are “very grateful that the jury was able to thoughtfully consider all of the evidence.” That jury found that federal prosecutors failed to present sufficient evidence to support criminal convictions for mail fraud, despite being shown video of Arroyo in May 2008 participating in the bodybuilding competition.
Boston city legislators responded in shock to the acquittal. The Boston Herald reports that Dot Joyce, a spokeswoman for Mayor Thomas M. Menino, called the verdict “unfortunate” and said the city of Boston has no intention of resuming payments to Arroyo.
“Mr. Arroyo no longer works for the city,” Joyce said. “It was determined he could perform the duties assigned to him and (he) was ordered to return to work and refused to return. We stand by that decision.”
City Council President Stephen Murphy said he was “stunned,” but said, “I don’t think there’s going to be a run on the Retirement Board because this guy lucked out. I don’t think anyone would be that dumb.”
The 49-year-old Arroyo has been a firefighter since 1986. He was fired in 2008 after following the bodybuilding controversy and refusing to return to work.
The Associated Press contributed to this article.
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Comments (111)
love the kids
Posted on August 16, 2011 at 2:54pmAnd I know a woman who was recovering from a back injury and was on disability, not permenant, but she was on it for a good while. Her doctor said that walking was great therapy. She was spyed on by a private investigator who caught her mowing her lawn with a self propelled mower just as she was feeling good and getting ready to return to work and found guilty of fraud. They said anyone who can mow the grass is able to work. No jail time, but she had to pay All back and will always have it on her record. For this guy to look like that, his back has supported some serious weight.
Report Post »Bloody Sam
Posted on August 16, 2011 at 3:08pm“We will continue to investigate and prosecute allegations of these types of frauds.”
For apparently no reason since they can’t seem to make any charges stick.
“He was fired in 2008 after following the bodybuilding controversy and refusing to return to work.”
Report Post »Yet I’ll bet that he still gets his 65,000 per year pension nut. I’d refuse to go back too.
loriann12
Posted on August 16, 2011 at 3:48pmYou read that he was a fireman. It’s possible that either 1.) the job is harder than body building (which I don’t doubt) or 2.) the union really was on his side.
I know a woman (not that it matters, but she’s black) who can work hard for Vacation Bible School, in the kitchen, and is on disability. She has 4 kids and all of them have Blackberry’s.
Report Post »DrFrost
Posted on August 16, 2011 at 3:50pmPowerlifters have few options to avoid stressing their backs, but that is not true for bodybuilders. Most exercises that bodybuilders do don’t put a big load on your lower back. In fact, the vast majority don’t. The ones that do can be replaced with alternatives that still work the same muscle groups without stressing the lower back. For example…. leg presses instead of squats. Pulldowns instead of bent over rows and seated calf raises as opposed to standing calf raises. I’ve been lifting weights for well over a decade despite having a bad lower back. And I know several other people who lift and have to be careful with their backs.
So I have no problem believing he can still compete in body buidling competitions with a bad back. And I have no doubt that he might be unable to complete his former duties if they were back intensive, and still be able to train for a body building competition.
However, I do find it hard to believe he could train that hard and compete and be incapable of handling any job.
Report Post »DarkFire
Posted on August 16, 2011 at 4:23pmwho the F… gets 65k for being disabled.
Report Post »michael48
Posted on August 16, 2011 at 4:24pmwell DEM-WITS…there’s one of your FINEST…YOU’RE BUYING…IDIOTS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Report Post »Secret Squirrel
Posted on August 16, 2011 at 5:33pmDarkFire
Posted on August 16, 2011 at 4:23pm
“who the F… gets 65k for being disabled.”
Darkfire, let me take a stab at this!
Boston firefighters.
Report Post »avenger
Posted on August 16, 2011 at 5:44pmya think we have a problem with parasites? no morals ,no ethics,no religion..just do whatever rocks your boat,liberal utopia !
Report Post »shazam3
Posted on August 16, 2011 at 6:51pmLook for the “union label”
Report Post »Mairi Kay
Posted on August 16, 2011 at 10:46pmHey, in Chicago, “permanently duty disabled” officers get to travel the globe playing baseball, all the while PRAYING they do not receive a call to report to the insurance doctor for a check up………ain’t disability GRAND!
Report Post »They brag about just “filling their prescriptions” even though they NEVER take the meds, and that’s ALL that is necessary to “keep the money rolling in”!
ILUVJESUS
Posted on August 17, 2011 at 11:27amIt is possible to lift weights even if you have certain back problems. Not free weight….
Report Post »mikenleeds
Posted on August 16, 2011 at 2:49pmanyone can get disability now days by just faking .. don t surprise me at all
Report Post »avenger
Posted on August 16, 2011 at 6:04pmthis clown really challenges the intelligence of fire fighters…
Report Post »brknhrt
Posted on August 16, 2011 at 7:05pmJust make sure you hire a disability lawyer and claim your back hurts. Disability is such a scam. Isn’t it funny how someone with MS or other severe ailments work their whole lives but others just claim the easy way out.
Report Post »HorseCrazy
Posted on August 16, 2011 at 10:08pmyes they can and it REALLY ticks me off. There are people who seriously need it and these folks drain society and cause us to become hard in our hearts to this. I saw a story the other day where a woman was disabled from back injury but was able to still continue procreating and had 6 kids while being “disabled”. as a mother I can say pregnancy is NOT easy on a back nor picking up after 6 kids. Common sense investigating these claims instead of mindless drones would be helpful.BIG FAT LIARS
Report Post »kenny1960
Posted on August 16, 2011 at 2:47pmI got furious when I saw these pictures of this vermin abusing the system . I am disabled myself from several back injuries,Yet I could not get any disability until I lost my house, Truck, Boat and almost lost my self respect. I was not trying to game the system, But it is people like this who make people like me with legitimate claims suffer because we have to prove not only that we are hurting, We also have to prove we are not liars, Crooks , Thieves and malingerers trying to get over on the system.
Report Post »Servant Of YHVH
Posted on August 16, 2011 at 3:57pmI agree, I have been disabled recently and working on getting disability. I cannot stand for long periods of time or do repetitive things with my hands. I can start mowing the yard but I have to quit before 10 minutes because of the vibration and force needed to mow the yard. However, I can see people being able to do some things even disabled because there are some things that a disabled person can do for short periods of time but also taking into consideration that a company will not let a person work for a while and then stop for a while, etc. That would be like paying someone to work part time and getting paid full time. Also, some medications would not be able to be taken because of it affecting mental habits etc. I take pain pills (as little as possible) and that could affect my ability and lay the company up for lawsuits etc. if something happened because of someone working while on drugs or even non-pain medication that can affect the person taking them. However, I DO think that this would be a bit much to believe. I can believe that him being disabled could be working out to body build, but if they were able to continue the exercises, etc. then that means that they would be able to go back to work after building their body’s back up to that level fitness. I vote” Make him go back to work! I would also bet that he is union.
Report Post »Anonymous T. Irrelevant
Posted on August 16, 2011 at 4:04pmI hear you Kenny. I am 42% disabled and getting higher every month. I was in a near fatal crash in 2004 and Worker’s Comp is paying for medical, but they fight everything I ask for. I went back to work 6 months later and am still working, because I have self respect.
Report Post »I was again in a wreck in 2007. I got T-boned and it hurt my neck. I am taking pain killers and my neck only hurt when I looked behind me to back up my car, but since I waited 9 months until having it checked out, Worker‘s Comp won’t pay a dime, even though they give you two years to file a claim. Because so many people scam the system, they automatically think you are lying about your injury. Now, with all the other injuries I have, my neck really hurts whenever the weather changes. Damn these fakers for making the REAL disabled people’s lives much harder. I guess my pride is more important to me than others.
DrFrost
Posted on August 16, 2011 at 4:05pmMy father is on disability. Every doctor that has looked at scans of his neck say it‘s a miracle he’s not paralyzed. And certain muscles in his back, like his trapezoids, were partially paralyzed and started to atrophy AND IT STILL TOOK TWO YEARS for him to get on disability. If it hadn’t been for my sister and I helping him make his mortgage payments he would have lost everything.
Report Post »abbygirl1994
Posted on August 16, 2011 at 2:44pmThis sort of fraud is happening all over the country and with SSI.. and it doesn‘t do a darn bit of good to call SS because they don’t or won’t investigate anything.. Therefore the American taxpayers dollar is given to men and women who are nothing more than thieves, when the real people who are suffering are terrified they will lose what little they get.. I think if SS was reformed and had watch dogs.. we could save a lot of money. This guy is no more disabled than the man in the moon.. and those who aquitted him should be ashamed.. they are part of the problem!
Report Post »shazam3
Posted on August 16, 2011 at 6:44pmI agree completely that there are millions both working for cash and collecting disability, I have called SS and complained for years and they WILL NOT do anything. Even the IRS won’t do anything but they will check YOU first.
Report Post »thegoodvoter
Posted on August 16, 2011 at 8:33pmYou are 100% correct! Social Security Administration has no interest at all in pursuing fraud. I tried to rat out my ex-father in law who had collected SSI disability for years for having “seizures” that made it impossible to work. Fact is, he was working FULL TIME running his own painting business. The trick was that everything was in his wife’s name, they shared the same first initial, so when he signed contracts, checks, purchase orders, etc. it all looked legit. He worked off scafolds, 5 or 6 stories high! But the SS people didn’t even want to hear none of it. They flat told me that nobody there was tasked with looking into frauds or cheats. The whole thing is a scam!
Report Post »Opino1984
Posted on August 16, 2011 at 2:38pmMan, I wish I was “disabled” like that!
Blah…
Report Post »teresa2010
Posted on August 16, 2011 at 3:36pmAlot of women in the 1980′s got into bodybuilding because of back injuries especially curvature of the spine…My mom had that but back in the 1960‘s they would never tell a woman to weight train or they didn’t know weight training was the best therapy at the time…
Report Post »Atrocities
Posted on August 16, 2011 at 2:37pmSo you can lift weights and take care of your body, but that doesn’t mean you are able to save lives and run of ladders and stairs and carry heavy hoses up flights of stairs….. duh. Its like saying all because a blind man stairs at a TV, he isn’t blind. That is just asinine. The guy was disabled. I have seen people who are paralyzed from the waste down riding quads, horses, driving, are they now not disabled? I have seen disabled people with depression actually out side…. are they now not disabled? The jury got it right.
Report Post »LiberalMarine
Posted on August 16, 2011 at 2:47pmExactly, lifting weights in a controlled environment is very different than what firefighters are expected to do on a daily basis.
Report Post »Opino1984
Posted on August 16, 2011 at 2:49pmYeah, accept he was a fire inspector according to the video on one of the links. So he wasn’t going to be running into and out of burning buildings and carrying heavy hoses, climbing ladders, etc. He just pushed papers.
And as a weight lifter, there is NO way you can get contest ready without putting a lot of strain on your back. You can’t build a body like that just tossing around 5lbs dumbbells. Even if he was already big before his “injury”, you still have to put in a lot of work to cut up and get your size just right for a competition. All of that would have put additional strain on his back. Assuming he had been seriously disabled, there is NO way he could have done that sort of prep for a competition within a month of his injury. Maybe after healing for a few months possibly, but not a month later without some serious help from a doctor giving you the right kind of stuff to promote healing.
This dude is in a catch 22, if he was good enough in a month to prep for this contest, he was good enough to go back to being a fire inspector.
Report Post »hidden_lion
Posted on August 16, 2011 at 3:11pmBS..
Report Post »To get in this kind of shape for a competition 2 months after his injury requires lots of heavy lifting and cardio. Look at his legs, abs, back and arms. this guy can lift the kind of weight to look like that he can perform his firefighter duties. Most firefighters are not anywhere near this guys physical shape. He has no honor and I am glad the city fired him.
Mohawk77
Posted on August 16, 2011 at 3:16pmI have a traumatic brain injury and I would take his job if someone would let me. Liberals like you don’t realize the man is a fraud and liar but you just let it go. I‘ve looked for a job for 6 years and I was a Paramedic and RN but I’m now a walking lawsuit because of people like you who are morons running this country into the ground. Go live in Oslo where the other liberal miscreants live. I enjoy watching these blue states collapse under the likes of Jerry Brown. Obama will be hittin the bricks soon. Is moronic stupidity a disability? He should check it out. He was disbarred along with wifey. Maybe Ayers can write another book for him. “My Life as a Closet Marxist President”
Report Post »Veritas vos liberabit
Posted on August 16, 2011 at 3:53pmI have no idea if he is running a fraud, but back injuries can be very different for each person.
Report Post »I have recovered the best I can from my injury but there are some things I cannot do – run or stand for long periods. I can walk and bike all day long.
melmatmic
Posted on August 16, 2011 at 5:33pmI have no doubt that he could do some kind of work if he could work out the kind of hours required to build up like that. Let him wash the dam* fire truck or polish their helmets, or something useful for the money. He is not totally disabled.
Report Post »jagape
Posted on August 16, 2011 at 2:35pmThere are people everywhere cheating on their taxes and disabilities. A lady here in California was caught using the neighbors children for welfare. She was milking the state for over $100,000 a year. She got caught when a conservative worker followed her home in her new $50,000 SUV and the interviewed the neighbors. She was acquitted after her lawyer turned it into a racial issue. Look at great big super fat people who are milking the system for millions because they can’t walk. It goes on and on, so why be surprised. My focus is on the billions we are be taken for with the illegal alien issues!!!!!
Report Post »Ryan Beaulieu
Posted on August 16, 2011 at 2:38pmI live in the god awful state of MA and if you lived here you would know this story isn’t very shocking at all. This kind of stuff happens often around here. This state has become total trash.
Report Post »melmatmic
Posted on August 16, 2011 at 5:38pmYeah, the fat people are filling up the handicapped parking spaces. I say give ‘em a space at the far end of the lot so they can get some exercise walking in.
Report Post »capecodsully
Posted on August 16, 2011 at 2:34pmMassachusetts is home to liberal criminals in the State House and their union buddies who are also criminals.
Report Post »Rugnuts
Posted on August 16, 2011 at 3:36pmromney
Report Post »republic2011
Posted on August 16, 2011 at 2:29pmThe jury should be tarred and feathered.
Report Post »Stu D. Baker-Hawk
Posted on August 16, 2011 at 2:26pmI guess firefighters are just like everybody else: some are heroes; others, not so much.
Report Post »RightlyThinking
Posted on August 16, 2011 at 2:25pmLady Justice is truly blind!
Report Post »ZABO
Posted on August 16, 2011 at 2:23pmthis dude is a no good liar. he will get his someday, and that day can’t come fast enough people!
Report Post »Mil-Dot
Posted on August 16, 2011 at 2:22pmI don’t understand why he decided to cheat on the taxpayers. All he had to do was 20 years and he could retire in his late 40s at 80% pay and full benefits for life. Why cheat?
Report Post »olddog
Posted on August 16, 2011 at 2:17pmCome on folks it’s Mass. , you know, J. Kerry, Kennedy do you reallyexpect anything different for a totally left state? I mean Ca. is voting on a fitted sheet bill. The left is the left there is no cure..
Report Post »THX-1138
Posted on August 16, 2011 at 2:13pmA jury of his “peers”.
See the problem yet?
Report Post »Gary Fishaholic
Posted on August 16, 2011 at 2:39pmUnfortunately I do my Dad was a retired fireman put in his time and retired good deal for them. Why cheat to easy to do it legitimately.
Report Post »sangreel
Posted on August 16, 2011 at 2:13pmSame crap, new day. What a Mooch. He seems to have found a way to play the system, and the rest of us get to pay his bills….oh I forgot, sorry, this is the way of the future in Obummers world. We all get to pay the bills of them that will not work. All’s well…nothing to see here move on.
Welcome to the new order, the same as the old order. United Socialist States of America. just taking a page from the play book of all the socialists that came before him. It worked sooo good for the USSR that Obummer and his minions want to bring it in all its failed glory to America.
What a load of crap!
Report Post »melmatmic
Posted on August 16, 2011 at 5:41pmObummer says he wants to create jobs for any one who wants one. There‘s a lot of lefties out there that don’t want one. They just want the money.
Report Post »Anonymous T. Irrelevant
Posted on August 16, 2011 at 2:12pmIf body-building is good for the back, so is fire-fighting. Certainly looks healthy to me, by the way he was moving. I have a degenerative disk in my back from having a couple of lumbar vertebrae broken, so I know how a hurt back moves and I am still working.
Report Post »not funny
Posted on August 16, 2011 at 2:08pmWhat is wrong with people today? Cheaters who got caught used to be punished for their actions. This story is an amazing example of what is wrong with our justice system. Was a jury trial even needed here. Didn’t the pictures tell the truth by themselves? He obviously was not disabled.
Report Post »Rational Man
Posted on August 16, 2011 at 2:13pmI wish I was that disabled!
Report Post »pavepaws
Posted on August 16, 2011 at 2:07pmAt least he’s not a drain on Boston anymore, and he didn’t get the disability account he was trying to claim. Hopefully no pension either.
Report Post »Strat-M16
Posted on August 16, 2011 at 2:06pmPar for the course, in the USA, aka “Land of the Lost” (biblically speaking)
Report Post »SREGN
Posted on August 16, 2011 at 2:05pmI was in a jury pool for a high profile case of a rabbi who put a contract out on his wife, and I watched with horror as he and his lawyer were allowed to pick the dumbest people in the pool for his jury. My faith in the justice system died that day.
Report Post »NightWriter
Posted on August 16, 2011 at 6:56pmI get called for jury duty more than anyone I know… I answer all their questions honestly – and I have never, ever been picked….
I wonder if being married to a retired police officer has anything to do with that…
I think it must be (gasp) discrimination!
Report Post »ThomasUSA
Posted on August 16, 2011 at 2:01pmThis is the kind of crap we need to clean up with huge fines long sentences for ALL involved.
Report Post »smithclar3nc3
Posted on August 16, 2011 at 2:04pmIf he cashes another check the prosecution can bring him to court again as it would be considered an on going conspiracy
Report Post »Gonzo
Posted on August 16, 2011 at 1:59pmMassachusetts is notoriously generous with other people’s money.
Report Post »Mainer forever
Posted on August 16, 2011 at 2:25pmThen they move here to Maine and do the same Liberal stuff here. And people wonder why our taxes are so friggin high.
Report Post »randy
Posted on August 16, 2011 at 1:57pmI‘m sure he’s an Obama Voter
Report Post »thomasdaddy
Posted on August 16, 2011 at 2:47pmI was looking to see how you guys would tie this to Obama! LMAO!!
Report Post »bikerr
Posted on August 16, 2011 at 3:23pm@thomasdaddy–You live a sheltered life if that comment has you lyao.
Report Post »rockstone
Posted on August 16, 2011 at 3:37pmOf course he supports Obama. Look for the union label.
Report Post »biohazard23
Posted on August 16, 2011 at 1:53pmHoly crap, he got Casey Anthony’s brainless jury….
Report Post »macadoo
Posted on August 16, 2011 at 2:04pmwhere are we getting all these brainless jurors. they have a democrat jury?
Report Post »biohazard23
Posted on August 16, 2011 at 2:19pmI’m going to go with “affirmative” on that. Then again, this IS Taxachussetts, the land of Teddy K, poster child of entitlements and water safety, we‘re talking about here so we really shouldn’t be surprised.
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