Ex-Boston Officer Gets Prison Term for Fake Injury

A former Boston police officer has been sentenced to 15 months in federal prison for faking injuries so he could claim disability payments.

Eliezer Gonzalez was also sentenced Monday to two years of probation and ordered to pay more than $167,000 in restitution to the city and one of its insurers.

The 50-year-old Gonzalez pleaded guilty in February to 34 counts of mail fraud.

Gonzalez, once honored for tracking down a missing baby, said he suffered a back injury in 2007 when he fell on a cement floor struggling with a suspect.

Prosecutors say Gonzalez is seen on surveillance tapes arriving up at medical appointments walking slowly with a cane. But he was also videotaped walking and acting normally, salsa dancing, and even taking vacations abroad.