What Happened to that Gay Cop Fired for Doing Porn?

Tucked away on Dixie Highway in Wilton Manors is Bodytek Fitness, a workout studio offering up personal and group training sessions. One of three studios, Mike Verdugo calls the business his baby.

"My life has always been around fitness," the owner said. "I've been working out since I was 13 years old."

The 40-year-old started out training in his garage with his friends, and soon there were rows of cars parked outside. He knew he had to turn it into a business, and opened the first location in Davie in January 2011. While he was starting up Bodytek Fitness, he was also in the middle of a battle with the Hollywood Police Department, his primary job.

Five years ago, Verdugo's name was splashed among local and national publications as the gay police officer fighting to keep his job because of one day in his early 20s. He was young, ripped, and he laughs today that it was on his bucket list to be in a porn movie. He had a part in the fetish film, "Rope Rituals," in 1996 - he put in a few hours being tied up and called it a day.

"It was a one-day thing. It was in and out and it was quick. There was no sex involved, it was more of a role playing movie," he said. "I did my one [film] and that was it."

However, the couple hours of contract work would come back to haunt him more than a decade later. Verdugo accomplished another goal to become a police officer, serving two years in the Lauderhill Police Department and then eight in the Hollywood Police Department. In the latter, he was a part of the elite SWAT Team and used his fitness expertise to create a fitness plan for the team. In 2008, he was on HGTV as a contestant on Design Star, putting his interior design expertise to use.

However, Verdugo says he was the only openly gay officer in a "good ol' boy" department and filed a sexual harassment complaint in 2008. At that point, the department put him on administrative leave, claiming he failed to mention his stint in "Rope Rituals" on his application when asked about prior work experience.

Verdugo believes that if he were straight, it wouldn't have been an issue.

"They'd probably get high fives in the hallway," he said. "It would be totally different."

Verdugo took the department to court and was represented for free by George Castrataro and Norm Kent, the publisher of South Florida Gay News. Any money he won was promised to go to an LGBT charity. After much back and forth, including speaking at a hearing before a panel in Tampa, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement allowed him to keep his law enforcement certification.

And that story became SFGN's first cover Jan. 25, 2010.

"Knowing that I won the case, walking away, winning my certificate, and keeping it to me was everything. That's what I fought so hard to keep," he said of the 2010 win.

The plan was for Verdugo to return to law enforcement as a reservist and he completed his re-certification with the Police Academy. However, since his career in interior design and his burgeoning Bodytek business was booming, he decided not to go back.

Now, Verdugo is the proud owner of his three fitness studios, expanding from Davie out to Wilton Manors and Wynwood in Miami. This year, he's planning on franchising Bodytek Fitness. He also has a boyfriend and jokes that marriage isn't in the cards for him.

Would he go back and scold his younger self for doing "Rope Rituals?" He says no.

"If it wasn't for that, I wouldn't be where I'm at today," he said. "Everything in life leads you somewhere else. I'm glad I did it."