Scottsdale weightlifter Tim Isaac was sentenced on Monday to five years in a federal prison for selling a Viagra-type drug without prescriptions, cheating on his taxes, and fraudulently obtaining government benefits.
Isaac, who ran a company called Ultra Health Products, and his business partners imported sildenafil citrate -- the active ingredient in Viagra -- without prescriptions and sold it under the name Vinarol. The company issued a voluntary recall of the pills in 2003, after the feds began looking into the company.
Last year, Isaac pleaded guilty to a raft of charges related to the illicit sales.
As part of his sentence, U.S. District Judge Paul Rosenblatt ruled that Isaac must serve three years' probation after he's released and pay $1.7 million in restitution.
In letters to the court, supporters wrote that Isaac helps run a local telemarketing company, Absolute SS, which employs 250 people.
A decade ago, Isaac made headlines after becoming the first man to bench-press 800 pounds. New Times profiled him in the 2000 article, "Comeback of the 800-pound Gorilla."
He's worked with underprivileged youth in state juvenile detention facilities and proselytized as part of his weight-lifting performances.
Just another guy who shoulda practiced what he preached.
