HOLLYWOOD, Fla. - A Hollywood, Fla., police patrol officer who the department admits has a distinguished record is the subject of an internal affairs investigation following allegations he appeared in gay adult entertainment prior to joining the force.
Michael Verdugo, 34, was placed on administrative leave with pay July 16 after Internet bloggers began suggesting he played a starring role in the 1996 gay bondage video Rope Rituals. He and his attorney have been mum about whether the allegation is true.
"I think every police officer during their career are subject to investigations," Verdugo's attorney, Alberto Milian, told Miami's NBC affiliate, Channel 6 News. "The overwhelming number of allegations are always found to be unfounded."
A spokesman for the studio that produced the video said he does not believe the actor in the film - who was billed as Jeremy Wess - and Verdugo are the same man, even though the two have similar faces and tattoos.
"I think they've got the wrong guy," Christopher O'Neal told the Miami Herald, adding that the name on the driver's license the actor provided as age verification was not Verdugo's.
Verdugo joined the force in 2001. His attorney said his sexual orientation was revealed in 2004, and he has suffered repeated discrimination and harassment since then.
"When you're gay in America and involved in the military or law enforcement, it hasn't gone to a level playing field," Milian told the Herald. "We need to be more mature as a society. I'm not the same person that I was at 17 as I am at 48."
Verdugo is well known in South Florida after appearing in June as "Mikey V.," a contestant on the HGTV reality show Design Star. He did not win the competition. Winning might have put him in front of the cameras on an HGTV interior-design show, but those who know him said the TV appearance was a diversion, not a career move.
"Even when we were asking questions about his career in the interior design field, he kept referring to his career as a police officer being his true love," Dan Renzi, who appeared with Verdugo on the show and now edits the Express newspaper, told Channel 6 News.
An HGTV spokeswoman said the network also is investigating the porn allegations.
The Hollywood Police Department declined to comment about whether appearances in porn prior to employment violate departmental policy.
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