Don't Spam the Judge

Kevin Trudeau, infomercial peddler of miracle cures (and who knows what else), narrowly avoided jail on Thursday after being cited for contempt over his recent attempt to incite friends and followers to harass the judge presiding over his trial.

According to the Chicago Sun-Times, U.S. District Judge Robert Gettleman found Trudeau in contempt after he "posted the judge’s e-mail address online and asked listeners of his radio show and those who visit his Web site to e-mail Gettleman. Gettleman said Trudeau falsely told listeners the judge wanted to burn all of his books and fine him tens of millions of dollars.

"Since 2003, Gettleman has presided over a civil case filed by the Federal Trade Commission involving deceptive ads for a Trudeau weight-loss book. Gettleman said Trudeau repeatedly deceived the public and flouted the court’s rules, leading to three contempt findings by the judge."

I'm assuming that all of these alleged harassers think the internet is anonymous. They're going to be in for a rude surprise once they find out it's not. Tracking down who sent these email messages isn't that hard to do, especially when you're about to wield the power of a subpoena. I'll be curious to see if the judge feels these messages (and their senders) warrant further investigation.