Infomercial king Kevin Trudeau held in contempt of court
Filed under: Make Money Fast, Fraud, Consumer Ally
Kevin Trudeau, the star of late night long-form TV ads promoting his own books filled with questionable claims, will be the first one to tell you of his contempt for the government and courts that have tried to rein him in.The normally cocky and unapologetic pitchman with a large and loyal following left U.S. District Court in Chicago with his tail between his legs after being held in criminal contempt of court. Trudeau tapped into the raw energy of those who cling to his words like the gospel and asked them to email notes of support for him to Judge Robert Gettleman. The judge got the message as hundreds upon hundreds of emails filled his inbox -- still pouring in even as Trudeau stepped into the courtroom.
The unhappy judge ordered Trudeau to surrender his passport, not leave northern Illinois without permission from him and to post $50,000 bail pending a hearing next week on penalties he could face, including jail time.
"Unlike Mr. Trudeau, I do not wish to act hastily or improvidently," the judge was quoted as saying. "I want to think about what an appropriate sanction would be."
Trudeau was in court to finish up a case that had been brought against him by the Federal Trade Commission. The FTC won a $37 million judgment against Trudeau that he appealed. The judgment was vacated in August and sent back to the district court to be heard again.
On a normal day, Trudeau would boast of his battle with authority and use the decision made against him as a tool to further amp up his followers. Indeed, Trudeau has boasted of being held in contempt. But not this time. He posted a message on his web site apologizing for asking them to email the judge and urging them to stop.
"Yesterday, as you know I asked you to communicate with Judge Gettleman of the Northern District Court of Illinois. That was a mistake. It was wrong to make that request," Trudeau wrote. "Please do not under any circumstances communicate with the court or Judge Gettleman. I apologize for this mistake."
Still, despite the contrition, there are hints that we haven't heard the last from Trudeau on the subject.
"I cannot comment at this time. But have lots to say and will address it on my radio show Tuesday," Trudeau told WalletPop in an email this morning.
He was due back in court to comply with the judge's order to post the bail and surrender his passport.
In the redo of the penalty phase of the FTC's case against him over his book The Weight Loss Cure 'They' Don't Want You to Know About, Trudeau faces a fine even larger than the $37 million one previously lodged against him. He says he doesn't care.
"I'm never going to pay it," he said in an earlier interview with WalletPop.
Trudeau is a convicted felon. He served two years in prison after being convicted of credit card fraud and larceny in the early 1990's for charging up his customers' credit cards and posing as someone else to cash worthless checks.
He is the only person to ever be banned from doing infomercials for life. He is able to remain on TV -- and can be seen virtually any night if you stay up late enough -- because he can't be prevented from promoting his own books. The FTC, however, has said it would pursue Trudeau if he makes false claims about what's in his books and what they can do.
Trudeau has sold millions of books on all sorts of subjects from weight loss to getting "free money" to improving memory.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 4)
2-12-2010 @ 2:31PM
Lori said...
I recieved one of his books as a gift and all it did was complain about the government and how he was able to help you with all of these health issues but you had to give him more money to get the answers that he was claiming have. Why wouldn't he just put them in the book? He is a crook.
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2-12-2010 @ 5:06PM
Al Schrader said...
Sending emails expressing favor of the accused is not Contempt for anyone or anything. Showing up & disrupting court proceedings to voice the same is, which was not the case here. As such, this troublemaker is innocent of contempt....Alfred-
2-12-2010 @ 8:29PM
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2-12-2010 @ 2:35PM
d said...
I hope they nail this con man and clean his clock. Anyone who believes his crap is nuts. This guy has a serious God complex and needs to be brought to his knees by cleaning out all his bank accounts and taking all the money he robbed from people with his ridiculous books. Thank goodness there is a judge with good sense and saw this idiot coming.
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2-13-2010 @ 12:29AM
Bruce said...
I agree, give the money that he has duped with his ridiculous books and give it to charity or help pay for all the 700 Haitian kids they are putting in our school system in South Florida that the school system can't aford. They are asking the teachers to bring toilet paper and paper towels and soap to school cause the school system can't afford it. Give me a break.
2-19-2010 @ 3:32PM
Joanna said...
He turned out to be a fraud and I can't stand him anymore.
...and the other one ...with the glasses who drives around while pitching...can't stand him either.
Let us not forget Billy Mays...pitching from the grave.
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2-12-2010 @ 2:58PM
Anthony dyson said...
Patriots are scorned and hated in the beginning but loved in the end. Many of you follow a system that inprisions your freedoms of choices, this is nothing more than a systematic sacrificing of a man that knows better the alternatives of those who would simply enslave you to no end. Do your own research. What can the government do for you that you can't do for yourself. That's all Kevin tried to bring us. If they were all that smart then why is the country in the shape that it is.? They fear individual independance, not support it!
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2-15-2010 @ 9:11AM
k said...
What a buncha chumps. No wonder the world is so screwed up with people that will believe virtually anything. The next thing is he'll be selling religion.
2-13-2010 @ 6:07PM
JR said...
He has been a fraud and a con man since the early '90s. He has been to prison and he is barred from infomercial for life. Who the he!! is still buying his worthless books??? A foll and his money...
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2-12-2010 @ 3:32PM
Chet said...
If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck ...guess what 'it's a flippin duck". Thereforee, this punk is a scammer, punk, jerk, rip off artist, idiot.This guy is so brazen, he has an infomercial hawking his crap, with 4...count them...4 floozies with large boobs..sitting around a table, lapping up his crap and asking stuip ass questions to make him look smart. This guy is an absolute idiot and in the dictionary, under idiot they should have his picture. And yet, he continues as if he actually sits back and says to himself, yes, this is the life I want to carve out for myself.
Dman
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2-12-2010 @ 7:46PM
NashVOLcat said...
I totally agree Chet.
The only reason I watch his con-mercials is to watch the four big QQ floozies : )
2-12-2010 @ 3:35PM
Joe G said...
This is simply a guy who knows how to take advantage of people who are looking for something for free (like the "free" money from the government that he touts in the current book he's selling on TV). And all that he's doing is separating those poor slobs from money that they can't really spare. He's well aware that "there's a sucker born every minute" and that for him to get rich he doesn't have to get money from all of them. Even a small percentage is enough. He also knows that if you keep telling the same lie often enough people will start believing it. That's why he buys so much air time--and can afford it: those people WANT TO BELIEVE that there's an easy way to get rich. But only a select few--like Trudeau--actually pull it off. He's the king of the get-rich-quick scheme. When I came across his commercial while switching channels one day, I was REALLY surprised that he wasn't in jail. And then I wondered why he wasn't. I guess it's because the government can't protect people from their own stupidity and their desire to believe in something that can't possibly be true (just like all those people who accepted as truth the idea of "death panels" in the health care bill because, among others, Sarah Palin talked about them--but that's a whole different issue).
Please, people. Wake up and smell the skunk in Trudeau's clothing. Don't be victimized by his line of crap.
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2-12-2010 @ 3:38PM
st said...
I can't call Kevin Trudeau a snack oil salesman because that would be an affront to snake oil salesman. He is the lowest form of humanity. I don't know how he can sleep at night. I hope he goes to jail and tries to promote his book to BUBBA and the boys. When the Good Lord calls him, they won't have to bury him, they'll just screw him into the ground.
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2-12-2010 @ 3:46PM
central said...
I've read probably every book he has written. His books make you think a little bit. Although lately his books are kinda dumb now that you can just go in the internet and find out anything you want. 99% of books people read are a worthless waste of time...maybe they should throw everyone in jail who writes a worthless book and then charges more than $5 for it!
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2-12-2010 @ 4:01PM
James said...
I have never heard of this guy before...what strikes me as odd is that the story doesn't say what he's exactly been found guilty of; just that it's 'FTC's case against him over his book'...what did he claim that made a goverment agency take him to court?
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2-12-2010 @ 8:17PM
Paul said...
James,
Kevin has written books called "Natural Cures. WHat they don't want you to know." It's about just that natural cures...cures for disease that have been used for decades but have been driven out of the norm by drug companies. Since our crooked Government wrote a law that says, "Only a drug can prevent, treat, or cure a disease" whenever Kevin mentions something that can cure your disease of something, he gets in trouble because the FDA & FTC say that "only a drug can make that claim!" So our freedom of speech is trampled on to protect the drug giants. I've read his book and quite frankly, it changed my life for the better. Everything he writes about is true and the drug comapnies and special interests want to shut him up yesterday.
2-16-2010 @ 11:39AM
Mark said...
Everything he writes is true? He advises diabetics not to take insulin. Would you like a list of other brilliant advice he gives? Look, there's no doubt too many pills are prescribed these days, but there are also numerous medications quite necessary so we don't go back to the days of 3 out of 10 babies born living to adulthood, and 50 being a ripe old age. If everyone followed this guy's advice, we'd have millions of deaths within the first year.
2-12-2010 @ 4:08PM
Bazz said...
Has Kevin ever been drug tested?
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2-12-2010 @ 5:27PM
GinaY said...
The old sayings goes: "A sucker is born every minute" and "If it sounds too good to be true..."
Unfortunately, there are people like him who everyday take advantage of desperate people. Those people will believe anything they say, despite having facts to prove that they are frauds.
My advice is this: don't believe everything you see on tv. They are in the business of selling a product-period. Do your own research by reading comments from others on that particular product. This will save you grief and monetary loss.
And don't say "I don't have time." If you have time to watch television, you have time to research.
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2-12-2010 @ 4:19PM
J.S.Stone said...
I bought one of his books, paid extra for a newsletter I never did receive. Couldn't get my money back so was cheated out of over $100. Hope they put him back in jail.
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