Released from jail in civil contempt case, Kevin Trudeau starts 10-year criminal contempt term
Infomercial pitchman Kevin Trudeau can only serve one contempt sentence at a time.
So a federal judge who jailed Trudeau last year for civil contempt to try to force him to pay something towards a $37.6 million fine released him Wednesday. That will allow Trudeau to begin serving a 10-year criminal contempt sentence to which he was sentenced Monday by another federal judge for violating a court order that prohibited him from making misleading commercials, the Chicago Tribune reports.
But that may not be the end of Trudeau’s troubles concerning the $37 million the feds say Trudeau earned from diet-book sales and other ventures—money that Trudeau says he no longer has, Once Trudeau completes his criminal contempt term, likely in 2022, he could be jailed again for civil contempt if U.S. District Judge Robert Gettleman believes he is still hiding money overseas, the judge warned at a Wednesday hearing.
And, it seems, Gettleman may be ready to do so. “Hopefully, I’m still here,” the judge told Trudeau.
In a Facebook post today, the jailed pitchman appeared to be in good spirits and said he is hopeful the criminal contempt sentence imposed on him Monday by U.S. District Judge Ronald Guzman will be reduced on appeal, the Tribune reports.
“Mandela got 28 years, I was blessed to get only 10,” said Trudeau, referring to the late South African civil rights hero Nelson Mandela. “I have deep love and appreciation for the judge and the prosecutors. Please send them love.”
See also:
ABAJournal.com: “Infomercial pitchman Kevin Trudeau gets 10 years in criminal contempt case over diet-book claims”
