A "miracle" diet pill fraudster has been jailed for 20 years for conning some 130,000 customers out of $10 million.
Frank Sarcona claimed his Lipoban pill would "demolish" the fat in from people's bodies and spent three decades spruiking it and other false claims in US newspaper and magazine advertisements.
The 58-year-old Florida man was found guilty of money laundering, wire fraud and misbranding of a food in October last year and sentenced today.
Sarcona secretly set up Lipoban in 2000, just months after settling a deal with the Federal Trade Commission over misleading ads he published about his previous company SlimAmerica.
Between 2000 and 2004, he and his partner made an estimated $10 million through orders placed by 130,000 customers.
Authorities shut down Lipoban in 2004 after several complaints but that did not stop Sarcona, who has also dabbled in wrinkle creams and products that purportedly improve petrol efficiency.
He started another venture, selling a pill called "Nature's Fat-Fighting Secret" which "stops hunger, increases energy and prevents fat calories from being absorbed into your body".
In court, Sarcona said he believed in his products and had been a crusader for dietary supplements for over 30 years.
Assistant US Attorney Kerry Baron said Sarcona preyed on those desperate to lose weight.
"If Mr Sarcona is not given the stiff sentence he deserves, he will repeat this," Baron said.
In the Lipoban scam, Sarcona created an advertising campaign that used an unlicenced doctor from Mexico posing as a medical director.
The pills contained chitosan, a substance derived from shellfish exoskeletons.
Prosecutors said there was no way Lipoban could deliver the desired results without people changing their eating habits.
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