‘Infomercial King’ Kevin Trudeau sent to jail
TV pitchman Kevin Trudeau is accused of conning consumers into buying his weight-loss books and was ordered off the air – that was what the headline read this morning.
Most of us have seen Kevin Trudeau and his infomercials on weight loss, alternative medicine, free money and more. He even has The Kevin Trudeau Show… or had.
According to the AP News Chicago, a federal judge in Chicago has sent infomercial pitchman Kevin Trudeau to jail for violating court orders to stop his over-the-top spending and pay a more than $37 million fine.
Trudeau has claimed he has no money to pay the fine, which stems from alleged false claims about his weight-loss book.
Lawyers for the Federal Trade Commission presented evidence Wednesday that Trudeau has spent $900 at a liquor store, $920 on cigars and $359 on two haircuts.
Judge Robert Gettleman told Trudeau to discuss his assets with a court-appointed receiver while in jail and return to court Thursday.
Gettleman told Trudeau: “This is not an infomercial. You can’t talk your way out of this.”
In July, Gettleman froze assets Trudeau allegedly controls and held him in contempt of court.
But this is the just the latest event…
For years now I’ve watched Kevin Trudeau sell on air, and at times I have to admit that I wanted to duplicate what he’s done, as have others, because it was so wildly successful – but also found what he’s done rather unethical, and so did 20-20 a few years back.
Well? No more Kevin Trudeau for a while… he’s been booted off the air.
Credits: graphics by Jose M. Osorio, Chicago Tribune: MCT via Getty Images
