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IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 

FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF ILLINOIS 

 

FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION, 

 Plaintiff, 

 v. 

KEVIN TRUDEAU, 

 Defendant. 

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Case No. 03-C-3904 

Hon. Robert W. Gettleman 

FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION’S POSITION ON THE APPROPRIATE SANCTION 

FOR TRUDEAU’S CONTEMPT FOR FAILURE TO REPORT 

On January 26, 2023, the Court held Kevin Trudeau in civil contempt for failure to report 

as ordered by ECF No. 844 (“March 2014 Order”) and reserved its decision as to an appropriate 

sanction. ECF No. 1016. The Court asked the parties to submit their respective positions 

concerning the appropriate sanction. ECF No. 1033. 

The FTC urges the Court to take two actions. First, the Court should find an adverse 

inference for the FTC for all the evidence Trudeau deleted or otherwise destroyed during the 

time between his release and his first appearance after his release. Second, the Court should refer 

this finding of contempt to the United States Attorney’s Office to determine if there’s been either 

a criminal contempt or a violation of Trudeau’s supervised release. 

Adverse inference 

Trudeau delayed the upcoming hearing by more than a year. The Court ordered Trudeau 

“[u]pon release from incarceration by the Bureau of Prisons, . . . to report to this court to 

determine whether coercive incarceration shall be reimposed.” ECF No. 844. Trudeau was 

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released from prison in January 2021 and from home incarceration in June 2022. He did not 

appear before this Court, as ordered. ECF No. 975. This contempt prejudiced the FTC. Had he 

reported to the Court, the FTC would have resumed its investigation of Trudeau sooner. In 

addition, Trudeau testified that he routinely deletes all his emails. See ECF No. 1015-1 at 570-

586. Accordingly, during the period of Trudeau’s contemptuous delay, Trudeau destroyed 

evidence that would otherwise have been available to the FTC. Thus, the Court should draw an 

adverse inference from the absence of any material destroyed during this period. 

Referral to the United States Attorney’s Office 

In addition, the Court should refer Trudeau’s contemptuous failure to appear to the 

United States Attorney’s Office to determine whether to initiate proceedings for criminal 

contempt or violation of Trudeau’s condition of supervised release. 

These two requests are appropriate for what is Trudeau’s sixth1 civil contempt in this 

matter. The Court should infer that any missing evidence was adverse to Trudeau’s interests and 

refer this contempt to the USAO. In addition, the Court should sanction Trudeau in any other 

way the Court deems proper. 

Dated: February 23, 2023 

Respectfully Submitted, 

/s/ ___________________ 

Jonathan Cohen (jcohen2@ftc.gov)

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 ECF No. 55 (July 1, 2004) (holding Trudeau in contempt for selling a purported cancer cure, “Coral Calcium,” in 

violation of the Court’s preliminary injunction); ECF No. 93 (Nov. 16, 2007) (holding Trudeau in contempt for 

violating permanent injunction against misrepresentations in infomercials); ECF No. 729 (July 26, 2013) (holding 

Trudeau in contempt of the Court’s order that he compensate consumers he injured in violation of the permanent 

injunction); ECF No. 751 (Sept. 18, 2013) (holding Trudeau in contempt of an order related to a receivership 

established to compensate consumers); ECF No. 772 (Oct. 16, 2013) (holding Trudeau in contempt again of orders 

requiring disclosure of assets); ECF No. 1016 (Jan. 26, 2023) (holding Trudeau in contempt of the Court’s order to 

report after release from incarceration). 

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Crystal D. Ostrum (costrum@ftc.gov) 

Iris Micklavzina (imicklavzina@ftc.gov) (pro 

hac pending) 

Federal Trade Commission 

600 Pennsylvania Ave., N.W. CC-9105 

Washington, DC 20580 

Phone: 202-326-2551 (Cohen); -3405 

(Ostrum); -2996 (Micklavzina)

 

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CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE 

I, Crystal Ostrum, hereby certify that on February 23, 2023, I caused to be 

served true copies of the foregoing by electronic means, by filing such documents through the 

Court’s Electronic Case Filing System, which will send notification of such filing to: 

Kimball Richard Anderson 

kanderson@winston.com 

Giel Stein 

gstein@clarkhill.com 

Nicole Prefontaine 

nprefontaine@clarkhill.com 

Jonathan Lippner 

jlippner@clarkhill.com 

/s/ Crystal Ostrum 

Crystal Ostrum (costrum@ftc.gov) 

Attorney for Plaintiff 

Federal Trade Commission 

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