Infomercial Star Sentenced To Ten Years For Fraudulent Weight Loss Scheme

Infomercial star Kevin Trudeau was today sentenced to ten years in prison for a weight loss scheme that prosecutors said "preyed on the poor, the sick, and the insecure."

Trudeau, whose sentence follows his defiance of paying a $37 million fine, was slammed as "deceitful to the core" by U.S. District Judge Ronald Guzman in Chicago Monday. The 50-year-old still gave one last pitch before the judge, saying that his four months behind bars for the November conviction had already changed him for the better. "I have absolutely learned a life-changing lesson from all of this," Trudeau said. The judge reacted with no sympathy, however, but instead publicly shamed him as cheating people since he was 25 years old. Prosecutors said Trudeau's actions resulted in more than $37 million in losses to consumers. Such weight-loss secrets enclosed in his book included directions to walk an hour each day and limit food intake to 500 calories.

Trudeau's books grossed an estimated $49M. While the sentence appears to have primarily based on the weight loss schemes, Trudeau also pitched a "debt cure" scheme called "Free Money."