'Natural Cures' Author Kevin Trudeau Sentenced to 10 Years Prison
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The case of author and radio show host Kevin Trudeau is one that raises questions about free speech, business, law and natural health.
Trudeau has been jailed since last November when he was convicted of criminal contempt by jurors for defying a 2004 court order preventing him from running alleged false ads about his book, The Weight Loss Cure 'They' Don't Want You to Know About. After the order, prosecutors said the informercials were run over 32,000 times.
Prosecutors fought for a prison sentence of at least 10 years, saying they couldn't think of another case where someone cheated people so 'brazenly.' In another filing they called him an "uncontrollable huckster" who would probably try to defraud his prison mates.
Defense attorneys called that "overblown and unfair" and didn't think Trudeau deserved more than two years. After hearing prosecutors talk about Trudeau's actions causing "shattered lives," defense argued that any harm done by the book would have cost the person less than the $30 price tag.
On Monday, U.S. District Judge Ronald Guzman sentenced Trudeau to 10 years in prison for "bilking consumers via infomercials for his best-selling weight loss book." But not before blasting him with a lecture on morality about the decades he "steadfastly attempted to cheat others for his own personal gain" and called him "deceitful to the core."
Trudeau will be 60 years old before he is let out of prison.
Some similar tactics were deployed on Paleo diet blogger, Steve Cooksey, who wrote about his steps towards reversing diabetes. A similar case involving "the morals" of what he was doing was built up against him in an effort to justify jailing and fining him. If you read up on his case, you will see how what prosecutors call 'dietary advice,' is to them, not a part of protected free speech.
So what is it 'They' don't want to you about what Trudeau's case really signifies?
Photo: Michael Jarecki, AP
Heather Callaghan is a natural health blogger and food freedom activist. You can see her work at NaturalBlaze.com and ActivistPost.com. Like at Facebook.
