Kevin Trudeau Sentenced to 10 Years for Lying About His 'Weight Loss Cure' Book in Infomercials

Case from 2013–2022 (U.S. Attorney's Office latest release: March 17, 2014; later developments are from court records and other sources cited below). Published on Scammers.com Oct. 16, 2026; case status is current as of that date.

Author and TV pitchman Kevin Trudeau was sentenced on March 17, 2014, to 10 years in federal prison for criminal contempt. He had violated a 2004 federal court order that barred him from making deceptive infomercials misrepresenting the contents of his weight loss book, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Illinois announced [1].

Later developments: The Seventh Circuit affirmed his conviction and sentence on Feb. 5, 2016 [3]. Trudeau was released from prison to home confinement in January 2022, after serving about eight years, and home confinement ended that May, the Chicago Sun-Times reported. By November 2022 he was back before the judge in the FTC's civil case, where FTC lawyers sought to show he had hidden millions overseas [4].

What he did

In a 2004 settlement with the FTC (FTC v. Trudeau, No. 03 C 3904), Trudeau agreed not to produce or broadcast infomercials misrepresenting the contents of any book. According to evidence at his November 2013 trial, as described by prosecutors [1] [2], he appeared in three infomercials between December 2006 and 2007 that willfully misrepresented The Weight Loss Cure "They" Don't Want You to Know About:

1. "Not a diet": He said the book wasn't a diet. It required at least three weeks of eating 500 calories or less a day.
2. "Available anywhere": He said a hormone found only in pregnant women, which had to be injected daily, could be obtained "anywhere." In the U.S. it was available only by prescription.
3. "Eat anything afterward": He said readers could eat whatever they wanted afterward without regaining weight. The plan actually required lifelong severe food restriction.

"Since the age of 25, [Trudeau] has attempted to cheat others for his own personal gain," U.S. District Judge Ronald Guzman said at sentencing.

The person sentenced

Kevin Trudeau, 51, formerly of Oak Brook, Ill.

• Convicted: Nov. 12, 2013, of criminal contempt, after a week-long jury trial; taken into custody that day.
• Sentence (March 17, 2014): 10 years in prison and five years of supervised release, with orders to cooperate in collecting civil judgments. The judge found an advisory range of 235 to 293 months. Criminal contempt has no statutory maximum [1].
• Appeal: affirmed Feb. 5, 2016 (No. 14-1869) [3].
• Release: January 2022, to home confinement, which ended in May 2022 [4].

The U.S. Postal Inspection Service and the FBI investigated.

Red flags

• Infomercials promising a "cure" that "they" don't want you to know about.
• Claims you can eat anything after a short program and never regain weight.
• Hormones or drugs described as easy to get that actually need a prescription.

What to do if you're targeted

1. Talk to a doctor before starting any very-low-calorie diet or hormone program.
2. Check FTC actions against a marketer at ftc.gov.
3. Report deceptive ads to the FTC at ReportFraud.ftc.gov.

Case status (as of Oct. 16, 2026)

Defendant	Court	Status as of Oct. 16, 2026	Source
Kevin Trudeau	N.D. Ill. (Judge Guzman); 7th Cir. No. 14-1869	Convicted of criminal contempt Nov. 12, 2013; sentenced March 17, 2014, to 10 years; affirmed Feb. 5, 2016; released to home confinement Jan. 2022	[1], [2], [3], [4]

Sources

1. U.S. Attorney's Office, Northern District of Illinois, "Weight-Loss Infomercial Pitch-Man Kevin Trudeau Sentenced To 10 Years In Prison For Criminal Contempt," March 17, 2014. https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndil/pr/weight-loss-infomercial-pitch-man-kevin-trudeau-sentenced-10-years-prison-criminal
2. U.S. Attorney's Office, Northern District of Illinois, "Weight-Loss Infomercial Pitch-Man Kevin Trudeau Convicted Of Criminal Contempt," Nov. 12, 2013. https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndil/pr/weight-loss-infomercial-pitch-man-kevin-trudeau-convicted-criminal-contempt
3. U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, United States v. Trudeau, No. 14-1869, Feb. 5, 2016. https://media.ca7.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/rssExec.pl?Path=Y2016%2FD02-05%2FC%3A14-1869%3AJ%3ASykes%3Aaut%3AT%3AfnOp%3AN%3A1699434%3AS%3A0&Submit=Display
4. David Struett, "Fraudster Kevin Trudeau out of prison, back in court for 'reunion' with judge who might lock him up again," Chicago Sun-Times, Nov. 17, 2022. https://chicago.suntimes.com/crime/2022/11/17/23465107/kevin-trudeau-court-weight-loss-cure

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