Imagine that you are a small-time steroid dealer who was busted selling steroids. The evidence against you is overwhelming. So you plead guilty to conspiracy to distribute anabolic steroids. You don’t want to go to jail. So what can you do to convince a judge that you don’t really deserve to go to prison?
Jason Chickos and his defense attorney had an interesting approach. Chickos was a civilian dispatcher employed by the Newtown Police Department for 13 years before he became ensnared in a multi-jurisdictional steroid investigation codenamed “Operation Juice Box” that targeted individuals involved with the UGLs Crox Gear and V Labs.
Chickos pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute anabolic steroids and faced up to 10 years in prison. But lucky guy was only sentenced to 2 years probation. How did he do it?
Chickos convinced the judge that he was not a “narcissistic steroid-crazed bodybuilder”. You know who he was talking about? Yeah, those highly-disciplined and motivated guys in the gym with great physiques who are dedicating to eating right and training hard. If you look that good, there must be something wrong with you, right?
The 46-year old Chickos (via his attorney David Ring) identified himself as just another hard-working and honest middle-aged guy who got caught up using steroids in a misguided attempt to retain his strength and athleticism just like other guys his age. Surely, the judge could relate since they were both middle-aged men.
Ring used Chickos’ unremarkable physique to prove that he was just a normal middle-aged guy – just like the judge. He didn’t particularly look like a steroid user or a bodybuilder, so how bad could he be?
“One look at Mr. Chickos — now or at the time of his arrest — reveals not a narcissistic steroid-crazed bodybuilder, but a heavy-set, middle-aged man who used steroids in a misguided attempt to retain his strength and athleticism longer than nature intended,” Ring wrote. “Aside from the offense of conviction, he has lived a stable, honest life and is liked and respected by those around him.”
It’s unknown what would have happened if Chickos had a more enviable and muscular physique. Would it have made a difference if Chickos looked like a 250-pound competitive bodybuilder with single-digit bodyfat who was ready to step on stage? Or if Chickos looked like a fitness or physique model with washboard abs?
Who can really blame Chickos’ attorney for doing whatever he could to plead leniency for his client.
It is just unfortunate to think that using pejorative stereotypes which discriminate against bodybuilders could have any impact on a judge’s sentencing decisions. Maybe it did in this case. Maybe it didn’t.
Justice should be blind. Unfortunately, it rarely is. Physique profiling is real. I don’t think anyone would be surprised to learn that police, prosecutors and judges may treat individuals different based on their physical appearance.
