A federal judge in Chicago has sentenced Kevin Trudeau—a face well known to insomniacs and the desperate—to 10 years in prison for criminal contempt, according to the Chicago Sun-Times. Trudeau’s career has been marked by massive financial success and multiple brushes with the law, which should come as no surprise since he’s essentially a brilliant snake-oil salesman. His current troubles reach back to infomercials he ran for books that overstated their claims, particularly The Weight Loss Cure “They” Don’t Want You To Know About, even after a federal court ordered him to stop. (The First Amendment protects his right to actually publish the books, which are still readily available should you be interested in 500-calorie-per-day diets and hormones.) Trudeau was ordered to pay more than $37 million in fines, but the courts had trouble tracking his assets, accusing him of hiding money. It was reported last month that some of Trudeau’s trinkets—y’know, like Catherine The Great’s chandelier—would be auctioned off to help pay the debt. Trudeau has been in custody since his conviction late last year, and he has already made it known that he’ll appeal. He also, it should be noted, said he was very, very sorry, and that, “If I ever do an infomercial again… I promise: No embellishments, no puffery, no lies.” He then offered the judge a tip on a penny stock if he’d cut two years off the sentence. (No, he didn’t.)
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