Sham? Wow! #1 New York Times Bestselling scammer Kevin Trudeau has been sentenced to ten years in jail.
The author, painted as a career con artist, had used infomercials to pitch "Natural Cures They Don't Want You To Know About," "Debt Cures they Don't Want You To Know ABout," and other books playing on the paranoia and gullibility of the average moron with nothing better to do at 2 in the morning than goggle at the TV set and then call a toll free number
In 2004 a court order barred him from continuing to run false claims for his dangerous "Weight Loss Cure" book, a "no hunger...diet-free method of losing weight" that somehow involved hormone treatments and an impossible 500-calories-a-day regimen. Instead of obeying the cease and desist, Trudeau ran his infomercials another 30,000 times, selling about 850,000 copies of his book and making millions of dollars for himself.
The judge: "He has treated federal court orders as if they were mere suggestions...or impediments to be side-stepped, out-maneuevered or just ignored." In his defense, Trudeau insisted he was changed man, he was meditating, and, "if I ever do an infomercial again ... I promise: No embellishments, no puffery, no lies.”
Trudeau's lawyers painted him as a victim. One of them whined that Trudeau's legal problems have left him nearly broke and homeless, and another insisted, "a 10 year sentence might be appropriate for a defendant who destroyed lives...if (Trudeau) swindled anyone (he) swindled them out of $30," the modest price of his scam-book.
In a victory for book buyers, the judge didn't look at the $30 list price as some justification for considering this a case of petty larceny. So much for "The Weight Loss Cure They Don't Want You To Know About." The pitchman who caught a 10 year jail sentence can now claim he's being put away because "they don't want you to know about" him...and how much of a "changed" man he is. Trying to avoid jail time, the author insisted, "I have truly had a significant reawakening."
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