“King of Infomercials” found dead in jail

TV pitchman Don Lapre was found dead in his jail cell in Florence, Ariz., on Sunday after apparently committing suicide, Reuters reports.

The 47-year-old was being held in federal jail without bond, awaiting trial on charges of defrauding people out of nearly $52 million, Fox News reports. His trial was to start on Tuesday.

According to CBS News:

Lapre called himself "The King of Infomercials" on his website; he gained notoriety from his numerous late night advertisements, including "Making Money From A Tiny One Bedroom Apartment," where he claimed he made $50,000 a week from his small apartment. The infomercials were parodied on "Saturday Night Live," and made fun of on the "Late Show with David Letterman."

Between 2004 and 2077, he lured at least 220,000 people into a pyramid scheme to sell what he called "The Greatest Vitamin in the World,” CBS News reports. The vitamins did not provide the health benefits he claimed, and the company was shut down in 2007 after complaints.

The Phoenix New Times reports:

The charges against him included mail fraud, conspiracy, wire fraud, promotional money-laundering, and transactional money-laundering.

According to the indictment, he'd enlisted about 226,794 people to sell his "worthless" products through individual sites of their own.

Lapre, the feds allege, offered bogus incentives for his sellers, such as promises that "each time you get 20 new people to try our vitamin, we send you a check for $1,000!"

Lapre had been indicted on 41 counts of fraud and related charges, Reuters reports. If convicted, he may have had to pay $250,000 to $500,000 per count and serve five to 25 years in federal prison.