Michael Verdugo, a former Hollywood Police officer was fired for failing to disclose his role in a gay porn film, called “Rope Rituals” that he performed in well over a decade ago. Verdugo was is also a former contestant on the HGTV reality show Design Star. He was placed on administrative leave on July 16, 2008 after his roll in the film was discovered.

However, yesterday, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement ruled that he can keep his certification and continue working as a police officer.

Verdugo said he feels vindicated by the decision, stating:

“We definitely opened up their eyes and letting Hollywood know we’re not just going to sit down and take this.”

Verdugo and his lawyer, George Castrataro, said the Hollywood Police Department wanted Verdugo’s certification taken away.

“They wanted blood. They were out for vengeance. They could have just terminated me but they went for my certificate. They went after me.”

Michael Verdugo’s 15 minutes of porn film fame cost him his job as a Hollywood police officer and his budding career as “Mikey V” of HGTV’s Design Star.

Verdugo is fighting to get back his police job and is preparing to sue the police department for discrimination.

Hollywood Police fired Verdugo — and Design Star dumped him — after a 1996 video turned up on the Internet showing the future cop in a 15-minute bondage scene from a gay porn flick called Rope Rituals.

“I don’t regret it,” Verdugo, 35, said of his one-time appearance at age 22 in porn, three years before he became a police officer. “It was a time in my life that I wanted to explore.”

Verdugo — billed as Jeremy Wess in Rope Rituals — said he performed nude in the short scene, but didn’t engage in hardcore sex. “It was all role-playing bondage. I was tied. I used handcuffs later on in my career.”

Just after the video turned up in July 2008, Design Star uninvited Mikey V from a reunion episode. Hollywood Police put Verdugo on administrative leave with pay. An investigation followed and the department fired him in January 2009 for not disclosing on his police application that he had made the porn film. An arbitrator recently upheld the termination.

Now, Verdugo has asked his attorney, Alberto Milian, to file a civil lawsuit against Hollywood Police for wrongful termination and discrimination.

“When you’re a gay cop in a paramilitary organization like law enforcement, a lot of discrimination exists,” said Milian, a Coral Gables criminal defense attorney who also specializes in labor law for police officers and firefighters. “He was a damn good cop. This guy was an asset and there’s no doubt his talents were very useful to the people of Hollywood.”

The city denies firing Verdugo — a onetime undercover officer — because he is gay.

“This had nothing to do with Mike Verdugo’s sexuality. It had to do with his honesty. The application process to become a police officer is very arduous,” Hollywood spokeswoman Raelin Storey said.

Rope Rituals’ Jeremy Wess (L) Verdugo on Design Star (R)