# Kevin Trudeau is Going to Prison **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [March 18, 2014, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kevin-trudeau-is-going-to-prison/683995 "2014-03-18T13:03:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Morgyn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morgyn/32/3041_2.png) [@Morgyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgyn)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2014, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kevin-trudeau-is-going-to-prison/683995/1 "2014-03-18T13:03:10Z")
I’m putting this in the Pit because I hope this thread gets viciously gleeful. Kevin Trudeau, flimflam artist, parasite on society, and leach on the gullible, [is FINALLY going to prison](http://www.freep.com/article/20140318/ENT03/303180051/Kevin-Trudeau-TV-diet-pitchman-gets-10-year-sentence). To the end, he remained true to his weasely, conniving little self, trying to persuade the judge that he’d turned to prayer and changed. This not long after saying that he couldn’t pay a civil judgement against himself because he was bankrupt, and no, he really doesn’t know what he did with that $100,000 in gold bars he bought a few years ago. ---
**Author:** ![StusBlues](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dc4da7/32.png) [@StusBlues](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StusBlues)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2014, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kevin-trudeau-is-going-to-prison/683995/2 "2014-03-18T13:05:50Z")
He’s going to need some snake oil in a very sensitive place. ---
**Author:** ![MostlyUseless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba8739/32.png) [@MostlyUseless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MostlyUseless)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2014, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kevin-trudeau-is-going-to-prison/683995/3 "2014-03-18T13:06:40Z")
Agree totally. At least the Ronco guy had the Pocket Fisherman. This guy is just a total suit with nothing in it. ---
**Author:** ![Cubsfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Cubsfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cubsfan)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2014, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kevin-trudeau-is-going-to-prison/683995/4 "2014-03-18T13:17:09Z")
Isn’t that the mega memory guy? Also math magic? ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2014, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kevin-trudeau-is-going-to-prison/683995/5 "2014-03-18T13:45:18Z")
Well, it’s widely known who and what this guy is, and yet people _still_ bought his bullshit. At least half the blame rests with those suckers. ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2014, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kevin-trudeau-is-going-to-prison/683995/6 "2014-03-18T13:52:36Z")
Yeah, this is good news. IIRC, one of his books said something like sunscreen _causing_ cancer. His bullshit wasn’t just wrong, it was actively dangerously wrong. ---
**Author:** ![Morgyn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morgyn/32/3041_2.png) [@Morgyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgyn)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2014, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kevin-trudeau-is-going-to-prison/683995/7 "2014-03-18T13:56:50Z")
> [@Cubsfan](#): > > Isn’t that the mega memory guy? Also math magic? No, this is the guy who has a line of books that have _‘They’ Don’t Want You to Know About_ as the end of the title. _[Debt Cures](http://www.amazon.com/Debt-Cures-They-Dont-About/dp/B001UE7DBO/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1395150897&sr=8-5&keywords=kevin+trudeau)_, _[Weight Cures](http://www.amazon.com/Weight-Loss-Cure-They-About/dp/B0062GJPS4/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1395150897&sr=8-4)_, _[Natural Cures](http://www.amazon.com/Natural-Cures-They-Dont-About/dp/0975599593/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1395150897&sr=8-3&)_, etc. ---
**Author:** ![BlackKnight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/eb8c5e/32.png) [@BlackKnight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlackKnight)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2014, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kevin-trudeau-is-going-to-prison/683995/8 "2014-03-18T13:59:17Z")
Kevin Trudeau is going to prison and Fred Phelps is near death. It’s springtime in America! ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2014, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kevin-trudeau-is-going-to-prison/683995/9 "2014-03-18T14:05:44Z")
I used to watch his infomercials with a certain amount of fascination. Who in the hell was buying this shit? Scanning his Wikipedia page just makes my head explode. Good riddance. ETA: **Morgyn** : He was the Mega Memory guy too. He was into anything and everything that could steal money from the gullible. ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2014, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kevin-trudeau-is-going-to-prison/683995/10 "2014-03-18T14:05:58Z")
> [@Morgyn](#): > > No, this is the guy who has a line of books that have _‘They’ Don’t Want You to Know About_ as the end of the title. _[Debt Cures](http://www.amazon.com/Debt-Cures-They-Dont-About/dp/B001UE7DBO/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1395150897&sr=8-5&keywords=kevin+trudeau)_, _[Weight Cures](http://www.amazon.com/Weight-Loss-Cure-They-About/dp/B0062GJPS4/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1395150897&sr=8-4)_, _[Natural Cures](http://www.amazon.com/Natural-Cures-They-Dont-About/dp/0975599593/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1395150897&sr=8-3&)_, etc. Who was also the Mega Memory guy. There’s not a thing that exists that he won’t try to defraud people about, it seems. ---
**Author:** ![ctnguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@ctnguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ctnguy)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2014, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kevin-trudeau-is-going-to-prison/683995/11 "2014-03-18T14:09:54Z")
> [@Cubsfan](#): > > Isn’t that the mega memory guy? Also math magic? > [@Morgyn](#): > > No, this is the guy who has a line of books that have _‘They’ Don’t Want You to Know About_ as the end of the title. _[Debt Cures](http://www.amazon.com/Debt-Cures-They-Dont-About/dp/B001UE7DBO/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1395150897&sr=8-5&keywords=kevin+trudeau)_, _[Weight Cures](http://www.amazon.com/Weight-Loss-Cure-They-About/dp/B0062GJPS4/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1395150897&sr=8-4)_, _[Natural Cures](http://www.amazon.com/Natural-Cures-They-Dont-About/dp/0975599593/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1395150897&sr=8-3&)_, etc. Kevin Trudeu is also the [MegaMemory](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MegaMemory) guy. To quote Wikipedia: > [@](#): > > The FTC found that the memory system would not enable users to achieve a photographic memory, and the advertising claims were false. Trudeau, along with other marketers, settled out of court for $1.1 million. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2014, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kevin-trudeau-is-going-to-prison/683995/12 "2014-03-18T14:15:10Z")
[This is a guy who recommends getting 15 colonics in 30 days.](http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Kevin_Trudeau#Batshit_insanity) I guess he thinks everybody else is as full of shit as he is. ---
**Author:** ![Melchior](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Melchior](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melchior)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2014, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kevin-trudeau-is-going-to-prison/683995/13 "2014-03-18T14:15:47Z")
> [@Morgyn](#): > > I’m putting this in the Pit because I hope this thread gets viciously gleeful. > > Kevin Trudeau, flimflam artist, parasite on society, and leach on the gullible, [is FINALLY going to prison](http://www.freep.com/article/20140318/ENT03/303180051/Kevin-Trudeau-TV-diet-pitchman-gets-10-year-sentence). > > To the end, he remained true to his weasely, conniving little self, trying to persuade the judge that he’d turned to prayer and changed. This not long after saying that he couldn’t pay a civil judgement against himself because he was bankrupt, and no, he really doesn’t know what he did with that $100,000 in gold bars he bought a few years ago. Did you know that they forgot to include the word ‘gullible’ in the most recent edition of Webster’s _Collegiate_? ---
**Author:** ![StusBlues](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dc4da7/32.png) [@StusBlues](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StusBlues)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2014, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kevin-trudeau-is-going-to-prison/683995/14 "2014-03-18T14:20:08Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > [This is a guy who recommends getting 15 colonics in 30 days.](http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Kevin_Trudeau#Batshit_insanity) Ah, so he’s been in training for what is forthcoming! Great foresight on his part. ---
**Author:** ![Mollie\_Magill](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mollie_magill/32/20882_2.png) [@Mollie\_Magill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mollie_Magill)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2014, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kevin-trudeau-is-going-to-prison/683995/15 "2014-03-18T14:46:41Z")
I’m looking forward to his next book, Incarcerations “We” Don’t Want You to Know About. ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2014, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kevin-trudeau-is-going-to-prison/683995/16 "2014-03-18T14:56:42Z")
> [@](#): > > He sold more than 850,000 copies of the weight book, generating $39 million in revenue, prosecutors say. > > \ > > [The defense] also contended the harm to any one person would have been less than the cost of the $30 book, so no one can claim the “defendant’s actions shattered lives.” The math here does not seem to compute. How can selling 850,000 copies of a $30 book generate $39 million in revenue? ---
**Author:** ![Lanzy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/74df32/32.png) [@Lanzy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lanzy)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2014, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kevin-trudeau-is-going-to-prison/683995/17 "2014-03-18T14:59:04Z")
I’ve never read any of his books as they seemed like total BS, but what did his diet book say that was so much worse than all the other diet books? I thought the “cures” book would get him in prison first. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2014, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kevin-trudeau-is-going-to-prison/683995/18 "2014-03-18T15:02:32Z")
> [@mhendo](#): > > The math here does not seem to compute. How can selling 850,000 copies of a $30 book generate $39 million in revenue? A math magician did it. ---
**Author:** ![Cubsfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Cubsfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cubsfan)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2014, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kevin-trudeau-is-going-to-prison/683995/19 "2014-03-18T15:02:54Z")
> [@mhendo](#): > > The math here does not seem to compute. How can selling 850,000 copies of a $30 book generate $39 million in revenue? They’re including tshirt sales in there. ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2014, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kevin-trudeau-is-going-to-prison/683995/20 "2014-03-18T15:19:47Z")
> [@mhendo](#): > > The math here does not seem to compute. How can selling 850,000 copies of a $30 book generate $39 million in revenue? As I recall, at one point, he was forbidden from selling any sort of weight-loss product or scheme on television. But they couldn’t stop him from selling books - he dressed it up as some sort of First Amendment nonsense. So he started selling books on TV, and when you bought the book, it was basically a 200-page advertisement for a weight-loss scheme, and you had to cough up more money to actually get the weight-loss “secrets” from his website. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kevin-trudeau-is-going-to-prison/683995.md?page=2)