In the book of Genesis, God created the world in Seven Days. Three years ago, it took Dave Palumbo and a skeleton crew less than 7 days to create Rx Muscle. I’m not comparing Dave to God, but it is pretty miraculous what the founding fathers created in such a short period of time-- a full multimedia website. In one week, the entire bodybuilding landscape changed forever.
When I asked Dave what his thought processes were during that crazy period in his life, he replied, “When John Romano and I were fired from Muscular Development we had a very short time frame to figure out what we were going to do. We knew we had to stay relevant. At first I entertained some offers from other companies, but then we decided to just do this thing ourselves.”
I met Dave at the very first show that Rx Muscle covered; The 2009 Arnold Classic. I was there with Carl Lanore, representing the radio show, OFF TOPIC. I closely followed all the drama with Dave, John, and MD since OFF TOPIC was promoted on MD at the time. And I was especially interested and aware of the tension between the two factions (Rx and MD) backstage at the Arnold.
“I wasn’t able to bring the full armada of people to that first Arnold, but we focused on what we did well... interviews and coverage. It was exciting, because I wanted to see, given this little rag-tag operation that we had started, how many people would actually come to the site! I was AMAZED at the traffic we got that weekend! It was incredible. I think we got as much, or more, traffic than Muscular Development got!”
Three years later, we are getting ready to head to the Arnold again in less than one month. This year we go not as rookies, but as wily veterans who have taken our lumps, learned a trick or two, and are firmly in the lead. Unlike the story in the book of Genesis, Dave Palumbo did not rest on the 7th day, or even the 1000th. With that kind of passion, RxMuscle is destined for big things.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, Rx!
Silvio Samuel Update
In my last column I informed you all about SIlvio Samuel’s convictions (http://www.rxmuscle.com/articles/muscle-gossip/4925-muscle-gossip-45-silvio-samuel-convicted.html). In this brief update I would like to give you an idea of the potential jail time he is facing. It’s important to understand that there are no mandatory sentencing guidelines for what Slivio is convicted of; however, after consulting a lawyer who practices in California, I think I can give you an idea of what Silvio can expect.
For the first charge of “Inflict Corporal Injury/Spouse” (felony domestic violence), he has the potential to receive up to a five year sentence in state prison, with the possibility of additional time if the victim suffered great bodily injury. In Silvio’s case, the victim was taken to the hospital due to damage to her body as well as the fact that she was knocked unconscious. Pictures of the damage inflicted were used in court as evidence of “great bodily injury”. Great bodily injury, or GBI, refers to physical injuries. While major traumas such as brain damage and paralysis are obvious types of great bodily injury, it’s important to understand that the injury does not have to be permanent or this severe. For the most part, what constitutes GBI is determined on a case-by-case basis.
The next three charges are all “assault w/deadly weapon/instrument non-firearm to produce GBI”, and those all each may result in sentences of 2-4 years.
I asked the lawyer if there was any chance Silvio could walk away from this without serving prison time, and he said, “Without there being some significant mitigating factors that I’m not aware of... No. He’s going to spend some time in prison.”
I asked him for a low-ball guess, “Best case scenario... he could serve all the sentences concurrently, get 50% off for good-time, and get out on parole due to overcrowding in 9 months.”
As for a worst case scenario, “If he served those consecutively, and got no good time, he could be in there as much as 17 years.” I think it is also important to note that because of the severity of these felonies, Silvio will most likely be deported after he finishes his sentence, whatever it turns out to be.
Silvio’s sentencing is on Wednesday, February 29th at 8:30am.
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