Steve Warshak, founder of the company responsible for “Enzyte,” has been sentenced to 25 years in prison and ordered to pay a fine of $93,000, says the AP. U.S. District Judge S. Arthur Spiegel also ordered the company, along with other defendants, to forfeit more than $500 million that it bilked from consumers.
According to federal prosecutors the scam involved preying on customer’s reluctance to admit that they had ordered the “male enhancement” pills. Customers ordered the pills, but were unable to cancel or get a refund. A former VP of the company testified that Warshak required customers to provide notarized documents from a doctor proving that they had small genitals in order to get a refund.
If customers complained, he said, employees were instructed to “make it as difficult as possible” for them to get their money back. In some cases, Teegarden said, Warshak required customers to produce a notarized statement from a doctor certifying Enzyte did not work.
“He said it was extremely unlikely someone would get anything notarized saying they had a small penis,” Teegarden said.
The judge had strong words for Warshak:
“This is a case about greed,” Spiegel said as he reviewed the case. “Steven Warshak preyed on perceived sexual inadequacies of customers.”
Warshak’s 75-year-old mother was also sentenced to jail time, but it’s unlikely that she will serve it because she’s 75 and has cancer. Meanwhile, Warshak has 30 days to report to prison.
Ohio company owner gets 25 years in fraud case [Associated Press]
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And Meg, how did a nice, girly girl like you learn what FPMITA means?
Are those scalawags Chris and Carey corrupting you?
(Yeah, a great graphic!)
I’m fine with the granny not going to jail. Terminal cancer can be ridiculously expensive to treat. There is no point in sending a woman to a jail where the government will be responsible for all her medical expenses, only to have her die in a few months anyways. MIght as well let her die on her own and save ourselves the money.
Also, under current rules, the man is going to serve quite a bit of his sentence (assuming he behaves, the calculation is 85% of the time he would have gotten prior to the implementation of the Good Time system).*
* [ezinearticles.com]
@Crim Law Geek: Ok, I’ll meet you halfway: I say put her in jail, and don’t treat her cancer. If it’s terminal, why pay for the expensive treatments?
@Crim Law Geek: Pretty sure the Grandma’s got Medicare. We’re paying for it anyway.
Seems like he’d probably be eligible for parole in 5 to 7.
@warf0x0r:
Um, not on the Federal charges he wont. Parole for Federal Crimes was eliminated in the 1980′s (84 or 87) IIRC.
@FightOnTrojans:
Except that would be considered cruel and unusual punishment, and barred by the Constitution.
…wow, did nobody else get the Office Space reference? Kind of surprised not to see any comments on it by now.
Anyway, glad this guy is getting put away. Or fleeing the country. Either way, one more layer keeping him away from me.
For those of you bemoaning the disappearance of some commercials, don’t worry, I’m sure there will be something else plugged into their place.
But, I would suggest as someone else did, get a DVR (or VCR if you want to do it old-school) and record your shows so you can then skip all the commercials. Watching a non-premium cable channel these days in realtime is painful. 20 minutes of commercials and promos for a 60-minute show is just too much time.
I seem to recall seeing some of these commercials whiz by while I held the FF button.
/end of rant. Thank you.
@nybiker:
Forget FF..grab a Tivo and:
Select-Play-Select-3-0-Select while playing any prerecorded show and listen for the BONG BONG BONG noise… now the -> button will make you skip 30 seconds and just like that, no more Enzyte!
I couldn’t say all of that if it wasn’t true…
He’s likely going to serve in one of those “golf course” federal prisons since his is a white collar offense.
And he’ll be out in 7 years on good behavior.
Our tax dollars at work.
@SigmundTheSeaMonster: The “white collar” prisons are actually much LESS luxurious than proper federal prisons. To wit, minimum security units are usually “prison camps,” used for temporary staging of prisoners, prisoners who are near release, white collar convicts etc.
That means they’re much less violent places to be.
It also means there may be few or no facilities. You’re less likely to have private cells, TV, air conditioning, etc.
I think I’d probably rather be in a high-security facility. Shine up my handball game, get really, really familiar with the price is right etc.
Does this mean I’ll get my money back?
Um, I mean, uh, my penis is huge, I would never need this product, and if you bought it, you have a small penis, and are therefore less of a man than I am…
NASCAR!!!
WHOOOOOOOO!!!
This is AWESOME!!
California won a similar case against the company about a year ago… the commercials, which only appear around here on Comcasts low end digital package, disappeared for about a month and then they were right back again, nothing changed.
Comcast will advertise anything.
As I was reading this post, another of their commercials popped up during The Daily Show. Hope Comcast gets STIFFED with the bill.
Go directly to jail (in 30 days). Do not pass Go. Do not collect $500m.
Why is this guy still on TV? I still see these ads!
Hold it just a minute here. The claim that Enzyte could improve the turgidity of the penis is not completely without merit. (Certainly though it won’t increase the size of the penis.)
I just went to Enzyte’s website to see what was in it. Of particular interest to me are:
Niacin
Zinc
Copper
Korean Red Ginseng
Ginkgo Biloba
L-Arginine HCL
Saw palmetto berry
Niacin can increase blood flow (although this tends to be very unpleasant). This is called niacin flushing. I take niacin on a regular basis and when I take unusually large doses, my whole body becomes bright red; I experience rather painful pinprick sensations all over my body; and my heart rate increases.
Zinc has been purported by some to be able to increase libido. Such claims have not been verified by any scientific studies, but neither have they been falsified. (Zinc can be quite toxic, though, so be careful.)
A deficiency of copper can lead to a deficiency of dopamine synthesis and dopamine, being arguably the most important neurochemical, mediates a large variety of brain functions, notably libido.
Red korean ginseng and ginkgo biloba may not have any direct effect on libido or strength of erection but they may be able to increase mental alertness and energy, which are important elements of satisfying sexual activity.
The presence of the amino acid l-arginine is what really struck me. I wasn’t able to remember all the roles of arginine in the body, so from wikipedia:
* Precursor for the synthesis of Nitric Oxide (NO)
* Stimulation of the release of the most important anti-aging hormone in the body, growth hormone.
* Improves immune function
* Reduces healing time of injuries (particularly bone)
* Reduces risk of heart disease
* Increases muscle mass
* Reduces adipose tissue body fat
* Helps improve insulin sensitivity
* Helps decrease blood pressure
* Alleviates male infertility, improving sperm production and motility
* Increases circulation throughout the body, including the sex organs
The presence of saw palmetto is the rub, because saw palmetto acts as an inhibitor of 5-alpha-reductase (which converts testosterone into dihydrotestosterone which is three times more potent than testosterone) and it also acts as an oestrogen, decreasing libido and contributing to erectile dysfunction. On the other hand, because it inhibits the production of dihydrotestosterone it can help in the treatment of benign prostatic hyperplasia which is the build-up of tissue within the prostate, which can dispose one to the development of prostate cancer and make it rather difficult to urinate and, I suspect, have satisfying sex.
It is likely that if Enzyte has any effects on the enjoyability of sex, whether positive or negative, these effects are seen only after a number of months of supplementation. I am not convinced at this point that Enzyte couldn’t ever do anything to improve the sex lives of at least a small percentage of those taking it.
The claims of the manufacturers of Enzyte are about as valid and predicated on science as those of ANY supplement manufacturer. If this guy should be going to jail then almost every other vitamin and supplement manufacturer should as well.
@gareki.ga.haikyo.ni: That all may be true, however, he is going to jail for misleading millions of customers and not providing refunds for anyone.
“93 counts of conspiracy, fraud and money laundering.”
Sure there are plenty of other crazy vitamin supplements and “ancient chinese remedies” but that doesn’t mean you are allowed to steal money from people.
As for the grandmother, I really don’t care how old she is…
“Warshak’s mother, Harriet Warshak, was sentenced to two years in prison. She was convicted of conspiracy and other charges.
“I have grandchildren,” she said. “The time I have left, I’d like to spend with them. I don’t think it’s fair to take me away from them.”"
All I have to say is, and forgive me for my language but I think is absolutely necessary here, “Fuck you, you old bag”. I really don’t think it’s fair to TAKE MILLIONS from people illegally or otherwise helping your son do so. So honestly, I wouldn’t mind it if you died within those two years you should be spending in prison.
@gareki.ga.haikyo.ni: To add further:
Iif you have actually seen any of the commercials they are HIGHLY misleading. They basically refer to to increasing the actual SIZE of your penis and not just getting better erections or increasing blood flow.
“Federal prosecutors accused the company of bilking customers out of $100 million through a series of deceptive ads, manipulated credit card transactions and refusal to accept returns or cancel orders.”
THAT’s why he is going to jail. Not because of the product itself but because of their obvious lies and deceit
As a side note, this is the most disappointing part of the article:
“Spiegel said the company, which likely will be hit with the majority of the forfeiture, will be allowed to remain in business.”
Looks like Steve Warshak’s going to meet some “hardened” criminals.
Soooo…this stuff doesn’t work? Hmmmm.
Hey the Enzyte worked for me. I have to push a wheelbarrow where ever I go just to hold my package.
If she ever says you’re small, just put it in her butt. She’ll take it back every time. Sam Kinison joke.
This is long past due.
Now can we please lock up the HeadOn and related homeopathic scammers?
The worst is the homeopathic pet spray product. People might be deluded by a placebo effect, but pets aren’t.
The people behind the homeopathy non-medications need to go to prison too.
To the person making the comparison between the mother and Mafia Dons with cancer – She didn’t kill anyone. Mafia Dons did, or were expressly involved in ordering it.
I wonder if the actor who plays “Bob” on the commercials ever gets crap from people on the street over the annoying ads or product?
1. 93k doesn’t pay for 25 yrs in jail – BULLSHIT that we have to pay for our criminals to eat/live/sleep with a roof over their heads
2. prison’s not the place for this guy – put him to work convincing people that our government is still ‘of, by, and for the people’ – sure, it’s bullshit, we all know this, but maybe he can help us believe the lie a bit better than our sheister politicians.
3. Smiling Bob and his pussy contented wife should move on to star in porn films now – it’d be a niche project, but they’d have an active audience, I’m sure of that. Especially if they expound (heh heh heh, I said ‘exPOUND’!) on the whole santa claus, all the office ladies on his lap story ;^)
Whistling enzyte jingle is theorized to stimulate
nitric oxide(NO2)absorption through the soft tissues
behind the upper lip…making your nose grow.
He better hope those dudes in Fed Prison aren’t taking Enzyte. Make way for Grunting Gary the Enzyte spokesman.
Well businesses out there who think they can get away with such scammy websites and products will need to think twice before now. They really made a good example out of Enzyte, save consumers out of millions of dollars. But keep in mind there are still many scammy male enhancement website out there. Keep on the lookout for them.