No Pain, No Gain: Bodybuilding Ex-Firefighter on Trial for Fraud

Bodybuilders are guys in Speedos who have bulging muscles that are slathered in oil, right?  And it is probably very difficult to get that sculpted body from lifting weights, with a severe back problem.  Sure, a body builder might develop back problems from lifting weights.

But that’s not how it went down for Albert Arroyo. His back problems started with a work related injury.  According to the Boston Herald, Arroyo testified on August 10^th that he suffered from a back strain in 2000 after pulling a hose off of Engine 7.

“I never felt that pain before — never in my life,” Arroyo, 49, of Roslindale told jurors. “Size does matter. It (the job) was very strenuous for me.”

And the pursuit of a $65,000-a-year, lifetime accidental disability pension might have ended with a payout, but for one thing.   Arroyo’s alleged obsessive exercise and his devotion to – you guessed it – bodybuilding.  That one thing which ultimately landed him in court facing fraud charges. In this District Court case, Arroyo is being accused of trying to defraud the city out of that tax-free pension.

Dr. Michael Hamrock, who was the Boston Fire Department’s (BFD) medical director until February, told jurors that Arroyo’s complaints got him reassigned to a job pushing papers in fire prevention.

When Arroyo approached him about retiring in 2008, Hamrock told him to “suck it up” because, “You could get a nice check without doing a lot of difficult work.”

Hamrock also stated “he was a bit upset at the time, saying this city owned his back.”

Arroyo complained to the jurors about that fire prevention job however, saying it “was a dumping ground” for BFD’s overweight and medically challenged fire eaters. He stated, “I was just sitting around.”

According to his lawyer, Arroyo was only pursuing a time-honored path to the good life, secured by so many brethren before him.

On the other hand, as discussed in an earlier article, there is Ramon Alicia Jr. He’s the childhood friend who followed Arroyo into both bodybuilding and the fire department.

Alicia discussed his work outs with Arroyo at Gold’s Gym and their “strict diet” of using the whey protein and creatine supplements to make sure their biceps would balloon; all of this occurring while Arroyo was out of work with a bad back injury.

The spine doctor who Arroyo was referred to back in 2008, Dr. Gaurav Kapur, stated “he said his back had chronic pain for many years. At the time of the visit, he said it was a nine out of 10.” He described how Arroyo would grimace and jump when poked and prodded, and how his report noted Arroyo’s “exaggeration” of what the problem was.

“There seemed to be some symptoms that were out of proportion with what the clinical exams were showing.”

Kapur told jurors that Arroyo never mentioned that he was a professional bodybuilder, and that he also failed to mention the March 2008 fall down a flight of firehouse stairs.

After the trial, which could still last for another couple of weeks, Arroyo could face up to 20 years in prison if convicted.  As of this moment, these are merely accusations and he is presumed innocent unless proven guilty by a jury of his peers.