Timothy Brodt is among more than 2,000 bike riders who left Sunday on a 545-mile trek from San Francisco to Los Angeles as part of the AIDS/LifeCycle benefit. He carried with him a small black-and-white photo of his Uncle Richard, who died of AIDS more than 20 years ago.

For the last two years, Brodt has participated in the annual bike ride to raise money for HIV and AIDS-related services at the Los Angeles Gay & Lesbian Center and the San Francisco AIDS Foundation.

“I had this idea of me doing a great thing,” Brodt said, recalling how he felt when he first participated in the bike ride. “I’m helping others.”

But Brodt, once a television producer with a six-figure salary, never thought “others” could include him.

After losing his job and health insurance, Brodt, 37, now relies on the same services that he raised money for in the past for his own HIV treatment.

He was laid off last April. Although he was offered another job in the industry, he decided to take time off to reassess his career. When he was ready to return to work, previous job offers had dried up. By then, he said, people who had provided job leads were losing their own positions.

Savings stretched only so far. Brodt moved into an older, cheaper apartment on the edge of Hollywood and gave up his car. Some weeks, he said, he had less than $20 in his bank account.

After six months, Brodt could no longer afford the $500 monthly payment for COBRA health insurance benefits. His HIV medications could run several thousand dollars a year. He stopped taking them.

It wasn’t long before he started to feel fatigued and depressed.

“I thought, maybe I need to talk to someone . . . Maybe I’m just depressed. I can’t find a job,” Brodt said. “I didn’t really think it had to do with HIV.”

Brodt’s symptoms were a textbook example of what can happen when someone who is HIV positive stops taking medication, said Brad Hare, medical director of UC San Francisco’s Positive Health Program at San Francisco General Hospital. A lapse in treatment can increase the risk of disease progression and medication resistance, he said.
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Life in prison in gay porn murder case

(Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania) Harlow Cuadra was sentenced to life without parole Monday for the killing of Cobra video owner Bryan Kocis.

The 27-year-old could have received the death sentence, but the jury of eight men and four women could not reach a unanimous decision on whether the prosecution had met the burden …

Jury mulls death penalty in gay porn murder case

(Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania) The jury in the Harlow Cuadra murder trial begins deliberations today on whether the 27-year-old should receive the death penalty for the killing of Cobra video owner Bryan Kocis.

Cuadra was found guilty of killing Kocis last week. Cuadra’s former lover and business partner, 35-year-old Joseph Kerekes, already is …

Guilty verdict in gay porn producer murder

(Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania) In less than four hours a jury of eight men and four women found 27 year old Harlow Cuadra guilty of first degree murder in the slaying of Cobra video owner Bryan Kocis in 2007.

Because it is a capital murder case, the jury tomorrow will deliberate whether Cuadra …

Prosecutor in gay porn producer murder: Tapes prove guilt

(Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania) Tapes with a revealing conversation about the murder of producer Bryan Kocis were played for the jury deciding the fate of Harlow Cuadra on Tuesday. Kocis’ body was discovered in his home in 2006 by firefighters responding to a blaze in the rural home. More than 80 percent of his body was covered by third-degree burns; police said the fire had been set deliberately to destroy evidence.

Kocis was the owner of Cobra Video. Forensics experts were able to resurrect the hard drive of a computer found at the scene. The contents led investigators to two other gay adult video producers – Cuadra and his lover Joseph Kerekes.

Police said that the pair had killed Kocis after he refused to hand over the contract of porn star Sean Lockhart.