TV pitchman Kevin Trudeau found guilty of contempt, ordered held
Television pitchman Kevin Trudeau leaves the Dirksen U.S. Courthouse last week. (Adam Wolffbrandt / Chicago Tribune / November 6, 2013)
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TV pitchman Kevin Trudeau was taken into custody after he was convicted today of criminal contempt for airing misleading infomercials about a diet book he published.
The federal jury deliberated for less than an hour before handing down the verdict in the downtown Chicago courthouse.
U.S. District Judge Ronald Guzman ordered Trudeau to be arrested immediately, citing his disdain for the authority of the court and the millions of dollars that prosecutors believe he has hidden in overseas accounts.
Trudeau, 50, was found guilty of violating the terms of a decade-old consent order in which he promised the Federal Trade Commission that he would stop making misleading ads touting his books.
Trudeau's lawyer had argued in his closing argument that late-night infomercials touting Trudeau's discovery of a weight-loss “cure” were no different from any other advertising that consumers are bombarded by every day.
“Watch any television commercial for any product – it’s the views and opinions of the persons who are making and selling the product,” attorney Thomas Kirsch told jurors in a packed federal courtroom. “That’s what advertising is.”
Kirsch also said Trudeau’s book, "The Weight Loss Cure 'They' Don't Want You to Know About," didn’t hit No. 1 on the New York Times Bestseller list because of a few television ads. “Somebody bought this book and somebody liked it,” he said.
But prosecutors said Trudeau’s infomercials for the “Weight Loss Cure” promised consumers they could stay slim and still eat steak, mashed potatoes and hot fudge sundaes when the book actually called for drastic techniques such as prescription hormone injections, a month of colon hydrotherapy and a grueling 500-calorie-a-day diet.
In his closing argument, Assistant U.S. Attorney Marc Krickbaum said Trudeau’s motive was simple: greed.
“(Trudeau) lied about what was in the book to make more money,” Krickbaum said. “You don’t need a roomful of lawyers to tell you that.
As Krickbaum spoke, a photo on a large projection screen showed the limitations of 500 calories a day: coffee, tea and water, a handful of vegetables and a couple pieces of beef or chicken about the size of a deck of cards. Krickbaum mocked Trudeau’s claims in the infomercial that the book did not offer a diet but a cure.
“You can say as much as you want that it’s not a diet, but it is what it is,” Krickbaum said. “Words mean things…If he had said what was truly in the book, he would have sold a lot fewer books. That’s why he chose to lie about it.”
Dozens of Trudeau supporters packed the gallery of U.S. District Judge Ronald Guzman’s courtroom, some clutching copies of “The Weight Loss Cure.” Trudeau, dressed in a dark suit and pink tie, sat calmly at the defense table during arguments, occasionally nodding or shaking his head side-to-side as the lawyers made their points.
Another federal judge has recently jailed Trudeau for several days to try to force him to reveal allegedly millions of dollars in assets hidden in overseas accounts in order to pay off a whopping $37.6 million fine imposed by the FTC.
Last week at the contempt trial, jurors watched three half-hour infomercials that aired on late night TV in 2006 and 2007. In the programs, an energetic Trudeau told viewers he'd uncovered a secret and permanent weight-loss plan that was devised by a British doctor in the 1950s and was being covered up by the government and big food companies that wanted to keep people fat.
The key to the program was a "miracle substance" that changed the body's metabolism, allowing people to eat as much as they wanted -- from pot roast and mashed potatoes to ice cream sundaes with real whipped cream -- and not gain any weight, Trudeau claimed. He said there was no exercise or dieting, no portion control or calorie counting required.
"This is the simplest and most effective way to lose weight on Planet Earth, and it's being hidden from the public," he said in one infomercial.
Prosecutors said the "miracle" drug was actually a hormone found in pregnant women.
Kirsch reminded jurors in his closing argument that his client is a longtime natural-cures advocate and outspoken critic of big government and corporations. He insinuated that was the reason the criminal charges were brought.
“He’s extremely critical of the government, and here he is,” Kirsch said.
jmeisner@tribune.com
The federal jury deliberated for less than an hour before handing down the verdict in the downtown Chicago courthouse.
U.S. District Judge Ronald Guzman ordered Trudeau to be arrested immediately, citing his disdain for the authority of the court and the millions of dollars that prosecutors believe he has hidden in overseas accounts.
Trudeau, 50, was found guilty of violating the terms of a decade-old consent order in which he promised the Federal Trade Commission that he would stop making misleading ads touting his books.
Trudeau's lawyer had argued in his closing argument that late-night infomercials touting Trudeau's discovery of a weight-loss “cure” were no different from any other advertising that consumers are bombarded by every day.
“Watch any television commercial for any product – it’s the views and opinions of the persons who are making and selling the product,” attorney Thomas Kirsch told jurors in a packed federal courtroom. “That’s what advertising is.”
Kirsch also said Trudeau’s book, "The Weight Loss Cure 'They' Don't Want You to Know About," didn’t hit No. 1 on the New York Times Bestseller list because of a few television ads. “Somebody bought this book and somebody liked it,” he said.
But prosecutors said Trudeau’s infomercials for the “Weight Loss Cure” promised consumers they could stay slim and still eat steak, mashed potatoes and hot fudge sundaes when the book actually called for drastic techniques such as prescription hormone injections, a month of colon hydrotherapy and a grueling 500-calorie-a-day diet.
In his closing argument, Assistant U.S. Attorney Marc Krickbaum said Trudeau’s motive was simple: greed.
“(Trudeau) lied about what was in the book to make more money,” Krickbaum said. “You don’t need a roomful of lawyers to tell you that.
As Krickbaum spoke, a photo on a large projection screen showed the limitations of 500 calories a day: coffee, tea and water, a handful of vegetables and a couple pieces of beef or chicken about the size of a deck of cards. Krickbaum mocked Trudeau’s claims in the infomercial that the book did not offer a diet but a cure.
“You can say as much as you want that it’s not a diet, but it is what it is,” Krickbaum said. “Words mean things…If he had said what was truly in the book, he would have sold a lot fewer books. That’s why he chose to lie about it.”
Dozens of Trudeau supporters packed the gallery of U.S. District Judge Ronald Guzman’s courtroom, some clutching copies of “The Weight Loss Cure.” Trudeau, dressed in a dark suit and pink tie, sat calmly at the defense table during arguments, occasionally nodding or shaking his head side-to-side as the lawyers made their points.
Another federal judge has recently jailed Trudeau for several days to try to force him to reveal allegedly millions of dollars in assets hidden in overseas accounts in order to pay off a whopping $37.6 million fine imposed by the FTC.
Last week at the contempt trial, jurors watched three half-hour infomercials that aired on late night TV in 2006 and 2007. In the programs, an energetic Trudeau told viewers he'd uncovered a secret and permanent weight-loss plan that was devised by a British doctor in the 1950s and was being covered up by the government and big food companies that wanted to keep people fat.
The key to the program was a "miracle substance" that changed the body's metabolism, allowing people to eat as much as they wanted -- from pot roast and mashed potatoes to ice cream sundaes with real whipped cream -- and not gain any weight, Trudeau claimed. He said there was no exercise or dieting, no portion control or calorie counting required.
"This is the simplest and most effective way to lose weight on Planet Earth, and it's being hidden from the public," he said in one infomercial.
Prosecutors said the "miracle" drug was actually a hormone found in pregnant women.
Kirsch reminded jurors in his closing argument that his client is a longtime natural-cures advocate and outspoken critic of big government and corporations. He insinuated that was the reason the criminal charges were brought.
“He’s extremely critical of the government, and here he is,” Kirsch said.
jmeisner@tribune.com
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