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7th Circuit stays jail sentence for infomercial pitchman

By The Associated Press
02.19.10

CHICAGO — An appeals court issued a last-minute order yesterday staying author and infomercial pitchman Kevin Trudeau’s 30-day jail sentence for unleashing a flood of e-mails that locked up a federal judge’s computer and his BlackBerry.

The word from the appeals court came only minutes before Trudeau had expected to be taken into custody to start serving the sentence. He grinned with relief.

“Certainly, I’m very happy to be going home tonight,” Trudeau told reporters after a three-judge panel of the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals allowed him to remain free for the time being.

Trudeau received the news that the appeals court had granted the stay only 25 minutes before a hearing at which U.S. District Judge Robert W. Gettleman had been expected to order marshals to take him into custody.

Trudeau showed reporters that he had worn laceless shoes and blue jeans without a belt to be in line with rules at the Metropolitan Correctional Center, where he had thought he would have to spend the night.

“See? No laces, no belt” he said, showing a pair of gray suede shoes and lifting the pullover he was wearing.

Prisoners at the Metropolitan Correctional Center have to wear orange jumpsuits.

Gettleman also cut the fine he imposed on Trudeau last week from $50,000 to $5,000 after chief defense counsel Kimball Anderson argued that $5,000 was the legal limit in such a case.

Gettleman is presiding over a long-running court fight between the Federal Trade Commission and Trudeau, who writes books touting so-called natural cures for a wide array of physical ailments and advertises them on TV infomercials.

The court found one of the ads, for a weight loss book, to be misleading, and Trudeau has been held in civil contempt involving that ad. The court fight at this stage is about the possible penalty for the civil contempt.

Last week, Gettleman found Trudeau in direct criminal contempt after the informercial king urged followers to contact Gettleman, saying the federal government was trying to “burn” his books and take away his free-speech right.

Hundreds of e-mails flooded the judge’s computer, making it temporarily useless, and his connected BlackBerry began buzzing furiously with the messages as he tried to teach a class at Northwestern University law school.

After the appeals court issued its order, Trudeau appeared before Gettleman and got a verbal warning from the judge.

“Mr. Trudeau, I’m looking at you,” Gettleman told Trudeau who sat at the defense table while his lawyers stood before the bench. “I’m hoping that nobody from your end of the spectrum is even thinking this will happen again.”

“I see your negative nod,” Gettleman said, indicating that Trudeau seemed to be confirming with the gesture that there would be no repeat of the e-mail deluge.

Anderson maintains that his client was merely exercising his constitutional right to free speech when he urged followers to contact Gettleman with e-mails praising his books.

The appeals judges did not say why he ordered the stay. They ordered Trudeau to “cease any solicitation of e-mails or other contacts with the District judge” and continue to post $50,000 bond and surrender his passport.

The appeals court set a hearing for Feb. 23 on the case.

http://www.firstamendmentcenter.org/news.aspx?id=22630

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Originally posted by rue:

I don't get it -

1) he's not a top-selling author, and
2) he wasn't jailed, he was gotten OUT of a potential jail stay.

What are you trying to convey, exactly ?

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Judge Orders Kevin Trudeau to Pay More Than $37 Million for False Claims About Weight-Loss Book

A federal judge has ordered infomercial marketer Kevin Trudeau to pay more than $37 million for violating a 2004 stipulated order by misrepresenting the content of his book, “The Weight Loss Cure ‘They’ Don’t Want You to Know About.”

In August 2008, Judge Robert W. Gettleman of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois had ordered Trudeau to pay more than $5 million and banned him, for three years, from producing or publishing infomercials for products in which he has an interest. The ruling confirmed an earlier contempt finding, the second such finding against Trudeau in the past four years.

Urged by both the FTC and Trudeau to reconsider aspects of its August order, on November 4 Judge Gettleman amended the judgment to $37,616,161, the amount consumers paid in response to the deceptive infomercials. The judge also revised the three-year ban to prohibit Trudeau from “disseminating or assisting others in disseminating” any infomercial for any informational publication in which he has an interest. On December 11, the court denied Trudeau’s request to reconsider or stay this ruling.

The FTC filed its first lawsuit against Trudeau in 1998, charging him with making false and misleading claims in infomercials for products he claimed could cause significant weight loss and cure addictions to heroin, alcohol, and cigarettes, as well as enable users to achieve a photographic memory. A stipulated court order resolving that case barred Trudeau from making false claims for products in the future, ordered him to pay $500,000 in consumer redress, and established a $500,000 performance bond to ensure compliance.

In 2003, the Commission charged Trudeau with violating the 1998 order by falsely claiming in infomercials that a product, Coral Calcium Supreme, could cure cancer. The court subsequently entered a preliminary injunction that ordered him not to make such claims. When Trudeau continued to make cancer-cure claims about Coral Calcium, he was found in contempt. In 2004, Trudeau agreed to an order that resolved the Coral Calcium matter. He was directed to pay $2 million in consumer redress and banned from infomercials, except for informational publications such as books, provided that he “must not misrepresent the content”
of those publications. The 2004 injunction remains in effect.

The Federal Trade Commission works for consumers to prevent fraudulent, deceptive, and unfair business practices and to provide information to help spot, stop, and avoid them. To file a complaint in English or Spanish, visit the FTC’s online Complaint Assistant or call 1-877-FTC-HELP (1-877-382-4357). The FTC enters complaints into Consumer Sentinel, a secure, online database available to more than 1,500 civil and criminal law enforcement agencies in the U.S. and abroad. The FTC’s Web site provides free information on a variety of consumer topics.

MEDIA CONTACT:
Frank Dorman,
Office of Public Affairs
202-326-2674
STAFF CONTACT:
Laureen Kapin,
Bureau of Consumer Protection
202-326-3237

http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2009/01/trudeau.shtm

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Official Kevin Trudeau Press Release
February 18, 2010

PRESS RELEASE

For Immediate Release

All media inquires may be made to:
(630) 401-0444
matt@ktradionetwork.com

Syndicated Radio Host Remains Free Despite Ire of Judge

CHICAGO- Embattled radio host, #1 New York Times best-selling author, consumer advocate, and longtime TV personality Kevin Trudeau’s fate lays in the hands of an Appellate Court which hears arguments on Feb. 23 whether he should serve 30 days in county jail for criminal contempt of court. The contempt charge stemmed from a recent broadcast of Trudeau’s nationally syndicated radio show in which he urged listeners to email the judge presiding over his federal court case—and hundreds of emails allegedly clogged the judge’s account within hours. On the February 10 broadcast of “The Kevin Trudeau Show” on WJJG/Chicago, Trudeau said “If you’re listening, and you like what I’m doing, and you want me to continue, you like my show, you think my ads are not misleading and deceptive…you think what I’m doing is good, you should write a letter to the judge [Robert Gettleman] and the Federal Trade Commission.” Over the next 24 hours, Judge Gettleman said his email box was flooded with so many emails that his computer and Blackberry succumbed to the deluge and his inbox was temporarily shut down.
Judge Gettleman has been presiding over the FTC civil case against Trudeau stemming from an infomercial for his book The Weight Loss Cure ‘They’ Don’t Want You to Know About in which Trudeau said the weight loss protocol was “easy.” The FTC objected to his use of the term and Judge Gettleman agreed, finding Trudeau in contempt of court in 2007. He has since been fined $37 million dollars in connection with that contempt ruling, though the fine has been reversed in an appellate victory for Trudeau. In March, Gettleman is set to impose yet another fine.

On February 11, one day after the broadcast and alleged email barrage, Judge Gettleman ordered Trudeau to appear before him, berated him, and found him in criminal contempt of court for having “interfered with the direct process of the court.”
Trudeau is undaunted by this latest dustup with the federal government. Though his legal run-ins with the government are well documented over the past two decades, he says he’s “proud of being found in violation” of laws “designed to suppress freedom of speech and the free-flow of information.” While he asked listeners not to correspond any further with Judge Gettleman via his publicly-published email address, Trudeau did note that “not many radio hosts in the world could ask listeners to act and get such a response.”
“Think about it,” KT Radio Network General Manager Matt DuBiel said. “Who in America could elicit such a response? Rush [Limbaugh]? [Howard] Stern? Maybe a handful of broadcasters? It’s obvious KT’s listeners and fans number in the millions, and the government is hell-bent on silencing people with such considerable influence. We’ve been told no one threatened this judge, nor were they asked to. KT merely asked that supporters of him, his show, and his message let their voices be heard. Apparently the men in the ivory towers don’t want to hear from everyday, average Americans while they rule with impunity behind their lifetime appointments. KT won’t stop fighting the corruption that pervades the government and its henchmen in the FTC, and apparently many people applaud his efforts.”

About The Kevin Trudeau Show and The KT Radio Network

“The Kevin Trudeau Show” originates from Trudeau’s worldwide headquarters in Chicago and airs on AM 1530 in Chicago twice weekly and on weekends in some two dozen markets from New York to Chicago to Southern California. The radio show promises 3 hours of the information “they” don’t want you to know about health and wellness, wealth building and financial independence, and the truth about the government, corporate America, and the media. For more info please see
http://www.KTRadioNetwork.com and http://www.KevinOnAir.com

About Kevin Trudeau

Kevin Trudeau is one of the most-read authors and most-viewed television personalities in history. His #1 New York Times best sellers include Natural Cures They Don’t Want You To Know About, More Natural Cures Revealed, and The Weight Loss Cure. Trudeau’s books combined have sold more than 30 million copies. In addition to hosting his own nationally syndicated radio show, Trudeau also owns several other companies, including a subscription-based online community, www.NaturalCures.com, which boasts an active membership of more than 150,000 members.

http://www.ktradionetwork.com/2010/02/18/official-kevin-trudeau-press-
release/

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Borders Books banned all advertising for all other books except Harry Potter, or Potter would never have been able to sell its pagan Satanism to overthrow Christianity for the jews.

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Originally posted by rue:
Especially b/c PN puts the effect in 2005 after the cause in 2007.

Maybe Kevin Trudeau could write a book about time travel.

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Silence is consent.

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