Something doesn’t smell right here. They are criminalizing opinion. There are freedom-of-press issues here; they are going after low-hanging fruit to establish a precedent. Then they ramp up from there.
I think you are correct. My wife has several of Trudeau's books and I have read parts of them. We both agree they contain useful information and insights. His offers of ‘free publications’ are not fraudulent. His people carefully tell you that other ‘other offers’ cost money and just say ‘decline’ and the free books will still be free except for a normal shipping charge. This whole prosecution really stinks.
Trudeau’s activities have been the subject of both criminal and civil action. He was convicted of larceny and credit card fraud in the early 1990s, and in 1998 he was sued by U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) for making false or misleading claims in infomercials promoting his book The Weight-Loss Cure “They” Don’t Want You to Know About. In 2004, he settled that action, by agreeing to pay a $500,000 fine and consenting to a lifetime ban on promoting products other than his books via infomercials.
On Nov. 29, 2011, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a $37.6 million fine levied against him for violating that 2004 settlement. Additionally, on remand, the district court modified its final order, requiring that he post a $2 million bond before engaging in future infomercial advertising. In April 2013 he was reported to have filed for bankruptcy to avoid fines and stay further Federal prosecution.
In September and October 2013, he was twice briefly jailed for continued failure to pay fines related to his conviction, pleading poverty while continuing to live a lavish lifestyle. In November 2013, Trudeau was convicted of criminal contempt and incarcerated. On March 17, 2014, Trudeau was sentenced to 10 years in jail stemming for his November 2013 conviction of criminal contempt.