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In this photo taken on Oct. 28, 2013, television infomercial pitchman Kevin Trudeau speaks to the media after leaving the Metropolitan Correctional Center in downtown Chicago. On Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2013, Trudeau's attorney and government attorneys began delivering closing arguments in his criminal contempt trial, after federal prosecutors spent nearly a week trying to prove the TV pitchman made false claims about his best-selling diet book. (AP Photo/Sun-Times Media, Michael Jarecki) MANDATORY CREDIT, MAGS OUT (The Associated Press)
CHICAGO – Jurors took less than an hour to find TV pitchman Kevin Trudeau guilty of criminal contempt.
Trudeau was accused of violating a judge's 2004 order barring him from making false claims about his best-selling book, "The Weight Loss Cure They Don't Want You to Know About."
The 50-year-old showed little emotion when he was convicted Tuesday in federal court in Chicago. He could face years in prison.
The core dispute revolved around dramatic claims in Trudeau's TV infomercials, including that people who followed the diet in the book could eventually eat anything they wanted without gaining weight.
Prosecutor Marc Krickbaum said Trudeau knew such claims contradicted his book, but he lied to sell more books.
Trudeau's lawyer had argued that prosecutors failed to prove their case.