Raymond Phillips kept pumping iron while collecting $100G in disability benefits for weightlifting injury, officials say

A weightlifting ex-cop turned electrician from Huntington Station is accused of illegally collecting $100,000 in disability benefits by falsely claiming he had suffered debilitating weightlifting injuries that left him unable to work. But he was spotted for years continuing to lift heavy weights — at weightlifting competitions, on his Facebook and Instagram videos about weightlifting and advertising his personal training business.

In announcing his arrest, the state attorney general’s office said the weightlifter, 40-year-old Raymond Phillips, was arraigned Tuesday in Suffolk County on two felonies, falsifying paperwork and using the paperwork to collect the benefits, the office wrote in a news release.

Charges are grand larceny and offering a false instrument for filing. Phillips couldn’t be reached for comment.

The office alleges that, despite having in 2018 said injuries he suffered left him unable to perform daily activities or work, "Phillips continued to be an avid weightlifter and posted videos on social media of himself lifting heavy weights, participating in weightlifting competitions, and advertising his personal trainer business."

"Raymond Phillips shamelessly collected benefits meant for disabled New Yorkers while boasting his weightlifting achievements on social media," Letitia James, the attorney general, said in the release.

The office said due to injuries on his dominant arm, Phillips certified to New York State he wasn’t able to work and that he’d undergone surgery and couldn’t perform most activities without help.

In 2021, his application was approved by the Social Security Administration, retroactive to 2018, and he continued to collect benefits through December 2024.

"Phillips posted several videos and pictures on social media accounts, including Facebook and Instagram, showing him weightlifting and taking part in competitions, despite his claims that he could not lift his dominant left arm and had difficulty squatting, bending, and standing," the office wrote in a news release.

NYPD spokesman Brad Weekes said Phillips was a police officer from 2007 to 2013 and retired.

By Matthew Chayes

matthew.chayes@newsday.comchayesmatthew

Matthew Chayes, a Newsday reporter since 2007, covers New York City.