# 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:** 2
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2014, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kevin-trudeau-is-going-to-prison/683995/21 "2014-03-18T15:21:33Z")
Hah. I knew the Canadian government was fraudulent! _listens to earpiece_ I mean, yeah! I fucking hate _Doonesbury_! _listens to earpiece_ … _diet_ books? ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2014, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kevin-trudeau-is-going-to-prison/683995/22 "2014-03-18T15:29:07Z")
> [@mhendo](#): > > The math here does not seem to compute. How can selling 850,000 copies of a $30 book generate $39 million in revenue? I got one of his books from the library, specifically the one that addressed prescription drugs. Now, as a pharmacist, I knew what drugs he was talking about, but throughout the book, he never named any of them - only the classes! 😕 You had to go on his subscription-only website to find out what they actually were. ---
**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, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kevin-trudeau-is-going-to-prison/683995/23 "2014-03-18T15:46:59Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > Hah. I knew the Canadian government was fraudulent! _listens to earpiece_ I mean, yeah! I fucking hate _Doonesbury_! _listens to earpiece_ … _diet_ books? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Kolga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e56c9b/32.png) [@Kolga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kolga)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2014, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kevin-trudeau-is-going-to-prison/683995/24 "2014-03-18T15:56:12Z")
Whenever I run across one of his books in a thrift store that catalogs their books by type, I get gleeful chuckles by moving Trudeau’s books from the non-fiction to the fiction section. If the fiction section is typed by genre, I choose science fiction/fantasy. Good riddance, you evil motherfucker. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Miskatonic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr.miskatonic/32/310_2.png) [@Mr.Miskatonic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Miskatonic)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2014, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kevin-trudeau-is-going-to-prison/683995/25 "2014-03-18T16:04:16Z")
> [@Morgyn](#): > > 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. . It might have worked had he not then tried to sell the judge a quickly mocked up copy of “Prayer techniques that ‘They’ don’t want you to know about!” ---
**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, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kevin-trudeau-is-going-to-prison/683995/26 "2014-03-18T16:08:50Z")
> [@mhendo](#): > > The math here does not seem to compute. How can selling 850,000 copies of a $30 book generate $39 million in revenue? It’s a secret **they** don’t want you to know about! ---
**Author:** ![Rhythmdvl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2014, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kevin-trudeau-is-going-to-prison/683995/27 "2014-03-18T16:11:05Z")
Point of clarification. “Math Magic” is pretty awesome to listen to. [Arthur Benjamin](http://www.math.hmc.edu/~benjamin/benjamin.info.html) is not a charlatan: > [@](#): > > [ul] > [li]B.S. with highest honors from Carnegie-Mellon University, Applied Mathematics, 1983.[/li][li]M.S.E., Johns Hopkins University, Mathematical Sciences, 1985.[/li][li]Ph[/li][/ul].D., Johns Hopkins University, Mathematical Sciences, 1989. > … > [ul] > [li]Professor of Mathematics, Harvey Mudd College, 2000 to present.[/li][li]Chair[/li][/ul], Department of Mathematics, Harvey Mudd College, 2002 to 2004. [Here’s one video out there](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_eFhrnZxAgU). Now back to our regular schedule programe. Kevin Trudeau is a piece of shit who deserves to be miserable. ---
**Author:** ![Deeg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/deeg/32/2955_2.png) [@Deeg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Deeg)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2014, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kevin-trudeau-is-going-to-prison/683995/28 "2014-03-18T16:17:30Z")
In some ways I don’t get people like Trudeau (which I guess is a good thing). It seems pretty obvious that he’d have been a successful salesman in any legitimate business and yet he kept doing the shady stuff, even after multiple run-ins with the law. ---
**Author:** ![Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/budget_player_cadet/32/205_2.png) [@Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Budget_Player_Cadet)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2014, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kevin-trudeau-is-going-to-prison/683995/29 "2014-03-18T16:43:09Z")
> [@](#): > > [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.” This is what gets me the most. Yes, obviously, when a book full of medical advice turns out to be full of fraudulent and awful medical advice, the _worst_ thing that could happen to the person who bought it is that they lost $30. Of course. And if I wrote a book teaching people how to fly, and it didn’t work, obviously the _worst_ thing that could happen is that they were ripped off. Obviously, _nobody_ would be harmed in attempting to fly and not being able to. This asshole’s gonna get his colonics in prison, all right… The fact that it’s so damn hard to nail people for administering treatment which is known not to work - or even to _stop them from doing it to patients who should know better but don’t_ - is fucking shameful. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Miskatonic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr.miskatonic/32/310_2.png) [@Mr.Miskatonic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Miskatonic)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2014, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kevin-trudeau-is-going-to-prison/683995/30 "2014-03-18T16:43:44Z")
> [@Deeg](#): > > In some ways I don’t get people like Trudeau (which I guess is a good thing). It seems pretty obvious that he’d have been a successful salesman in any legitimate business and yet he kept doing the shady stuff, even after multiple run-ins with the law. Maybe, maybe not. Trudeau’s selling technique was pretty much a one-trick pony of trying to convince you that \*someone \*was keeping you down/fat/indebt/unhealthy. You can pull that off in legitimate business a few times but will flop in the long haul. ---
**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, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kevin-trudeau-is-going-to-prison/683995/31 "2014-03-18T17:06:53Z")
> [@Mr.Miskatonic](#): > > Maybe, maybe not. Trudeau’s selling technique was pretty much a one-trick pony of trying to convince you that \*someone \*was keeping you down/fat/indebt/unhealthy. You can pull that off in legitimate business a few times but will flop in the long haul. Will you? It is similar to the well-established [FUD](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fear,_uncertainty_and_doubt) strategy, isn’t it? ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Miskatonic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr.miskatonic/32/310_2.png) [@Mr.Miskatonic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Miskatonic)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2014, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kevin-trudeau-is-going-to-prison/683995/32 "2014-03-18T17:24:42Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > Will you? It is similar to the well-established [FUD](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fear,_uncertainty_and_doubt) strategy, isn’t it? Which can work for a corporation a few times, but can wear thin fast. On an individual salesman level it will fall apart, many times before you can make an established customer out of your ‘mark’. ---
**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, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kevin-trudeau-is-going-to-prison/683995/33 "2014-03-18T20:22:06Z")
It is amazing that anyone pays him any attention whatsoever. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2014, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kevin-trudeau-is-going-to-prison/683995/34 "2014-03-18T20:49:23Z")
> [@mhendo](#): > > The math here does not seem to compute. How can selling 850,000 copies of a $30 book generate $39 million in revenue? Volume! ---
**Author:** ![zoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zoid/32/336_2.png) [@zoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoid)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2014, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kevin-trudeau-is-going-to-prison/683995/35 "2014-03-18T20:57:49Z")
> [@mhendo](#): > > The math here does not seem to compute. How can selling 850,000 copies of a $30 book generate $39 million in revenue? > [@Skywatcher](#): > > A math magician did it. Actually it was a physicist… > [@How to have light move faster than C](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-have-light-move-faster-than-c/682160/215): > > I AM A PHYSICIST, uncredentialed yes, but a physicist and I work just as long and hard as any other. > And because I never learnt the math, I have had to do every physical model in my head. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2014, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kevin-trudeau-is-going-to-prison/683995/36 "2014-03-18T21:01:13Z")
I must be a PHYSICIST too-I “do” models in my head all the time. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2014, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kevin-trudeau-is-going-to-prison/683995/37 "2014-03-18T21:06:23Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > Hah. I knew the Canadian government was fraudulent! _listens to earpiece_ I mean, yeah! I fucking hate _Doonesbury_! _listens to earpiece_ … _diet_ books? I went through a near-exact-same thought process, except at first glance I thought it said Kevin _Sorbo_ was going to prison. ---
**Author:** ![Bouncer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9d8465/32.png) [@Bouncer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bouncer)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2014, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kevin-trudeau-is-going-to-prison/683995/38 "2014-03-18T21:17:55Z")
> [@Deeg](#): > > In some ways I don’t get people like Trudeau (which I guess is a good thing). It seems pretty obvious that he’d have been a successful salesman in any legitimate business and yet he kept doing the shady stuff, even after multiple run-ins with the law. I think it’s not completely about the sale. It’s partly about “slapping” someone and them not even realizing it. The secret thrill of the con. Knowing you got over on the sucker. Story time!: I met a young man once, very smart, coulda had a degree in chemical engineering from a major university. Maybe he was lying, but he knew how to correctly pronounce the chemical name of MDMA/Molly (3,4-methylenedioxy-N-methylamphetamine)). And he knew how to make it. Anyways, to me he was outwardly a well spoken, intelligent young man. He ended up going on the road selling magazines door to door. He was _very_ slick. In his thirties, he looked like he was in his late teens to early twenty’s in the way he did his hair, shaved, clothes he wore, body posture, speaking tone, words he used, whole nine yards. Very polite. Very nice. And he’d make a couple hundred a DAY selling magazines door to door. He was actually a crew leader which means he got his take and part of his crews’. In any case, he used to refer to selling magazines as slapping people with them. As in “I slapped that old lady four times, bam bam bam bam and I’m walking out with 90 in cash.” He didn’t believe in what he was selling, he didn’t care at all, you could just see his eyes light up when he “slapped” someone out of their rent or utility or social security money. It was the thrill of getting over on them. For him, it seemed almost sexual and he was jazzed by what he was doing. To him, it wasn’t hard work, even though if you think about it, it was. Flop house hotel rooms with three or four other people, long hours, cheap food. He did not care, as long as he got to run his con. Of course there was more to his story, but for purposes of this anecdote, my point is that I think Trudeau couldn’t walk away from that almost sexual feeling of getting one over on suckers. It wasn’t purely about money, it was partly about a secret mental dominance game. It HAD to be a con, or it didn’t deliver the thrill. Regards, -Bouncer- ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2014, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kevin-trudeau-is-going-to-prison/683995/39 "2014-03-18T23:32:37Z")
> [@Cubsfan](#): > > They’re including tshirt sales in there. The T-shirt sales? That’s the sweetest plum! ---
**Author:** ![not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/not_what_you_d_expect/32/3246_2.png) [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/not_what_you_d_expect)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2014, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kevin-trudeau-is-going-to-prison/683995/40 "2014-03-18T23:35:39Z")
This makes me so happy!!! I am actually related to someone who fell for his stupid shit and it pissed me off to no end when I learned about it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kevin-trudeau-is-going-to-prison/683995.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kevin-trudeau-is-going-to-prison/683995.md?page=3)