After serving time for criminal activity in the early nineties, Trudeau partnered with his former cell mate and they joined Nutrition for Life, a multi-level marketing firm, where he was very successful. However, he and his partner were sued by the Illinois Attorney General for allegedly running a pyramid scheme. Trudeau and his company entered into a settlement with Illinois and seven other states for $185,000.

In 1990, Trudeau posed as a doctor in order to deposit $80,000 in false checks, and in 1991 he pleaded guilty to larceny. Trudeau had used the credit cards of eleven customers of the mega memory product to fraudulently charge approximately $122,735.68.[11] He spent two years in federal prison because of this conviction (Choi, 2005). Later, in his book Natural Cures, Trudeau claimed that he has since learned from his experience, and is now motivated to help people rather than merely to make money for himself