Fraudulent Male Enhancement Drug Gets Company Founder 25 Yrs.
In Cincinnati, the marketing of a male sexual enhancement product called Enzyte, which reportedly used ads featuring “Smiling Bob,” a happy man with an exaggerated smile (pictured), has led to a whopping jail sentence for the founder of Berkeley Premium Nutraceuticals.
Today, U.S. District Judge S. Arthur Spiegel sentenced Steve Warshak to 25 years in prison after he was convicted in February on 93 counts of conspiracy, fraud and money laundering. (WorldCom’s Bernie Ebbers got 25 years, while Enron’s Jeff Skilling got 24 years and four months.) Here’s the AP story.
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. Judge Spiegel ordered the company, along with other defendants, to forfeit more than $500 million — a figure based on how much Warshak and the company took in.
“This is a case about greed,” Spiegel reportedly said as he reviewed the case. “Steven Warshak preyed on perceived sexual inadequacies of customers.” Spiegel said one aspect of the fraud relied on the reluctance of customers to come forward, which would mean admitting they ordered the sexual enhancement pills.
“I do feel deep remorse and would like to apologize to any customer who ever had a bad experience with my company,” Warshak said. “I apologize to all the great people, the employees of Berkeley — they’ve given their heart and soul. I let them down.”
Spiegel said the company, which will likely be hit with the majority of the forfeiture, will be allowed to remain in business. Spiegel denied Warshak’s request to remain free on bond pending appeal, but gave him 30 days to wrap up personal business and report to prison.
As for Warshak’s mother, Harriet Warshak, Spiegel sentenced her to two years in prison for conspiracy and other charges. The judge is allowing her to remain free pending appeal, acknowledging that she’s 75, has cancer and likely will never be incarcerated because of the time it takes appeals to work through the courts.
Seems like a pretty stiff penalty.
About time! I was wondering how long it would take to stop Enzyte. Maybe now when I can’t sleep and have to watch TV late at night I won’t see actors claiming to have increased a certain male part. I still find it tough to believe they made enough money to afford TV commercials let alone keep them running all this long. I’m shocked that people actually believed this stuff!
It worked for me!
Great commercials though…
If Enzyte didn’t do something amazing, could they afford to do this?
Prison?! Uh oh…how many times will this guy’s product come back to haunt him while he’s behind bars if you know what I mean?
So, let me get this straight, if you avoid getting caught until you’re already dying, you get a free pass? This is one niche that caning could easily fill.
Preemptively, the 8th is cool with corporal punishment. See Ingram v. White, 97 S. Ct. 1401 (1977). See also, the paddle hanging over your high school principal’s desk.
So, does this mean it doesn’t work?
What about the actor who played Bob; surely he is complicit in this fraud and knew the stuff was sand.
Bob? Smiling Bob had too much of a surge of confidence to think it through.
Loyal Customer: Did it really work for you or are you just kidding?
free that man!!!
men with E.D. deserve what they get.
not only is nature telling them that they are physically inadequate, but they are apparently mentally inadequate as well since they fell for those stupid ads.
the old geezer has some nerve, saying that her sentence is not fair because it would take her away from her grandchildren.
IT’S NOT FAIR TO RIP PEOPLE OFF BY HELPING YOUR SON SELL SAND PILLS TO LIMP MEN!!!
The most annoying and moronic commercials ever. This couldn’t have happened to a ‘nicer’ guy. There’s only one male enhancement remedy; the oldest ‘career’ to date.
If indeed anyone was helped by this snake oil we can attribute the response to the placebo effect which can be very powerful. On another note it seems to me that 25 years is inadequate primarily because we had to endure the commercials. While I oppose the death penalty, it would seem reasonable in this case. Or play the commercial 24/7 in his cell.
wow. from that stupid laugh on “welcome back kotter” to 25 years in prison, Warshak has certainly had an interesting life so far…
25 years and 30 days to report? Hope they have outfitted him with an electronic monitoring bracelet.
I do not get it, what did the dude do wrong, how is what he did any different than what the Federal Reserve and the Treasury do? All the numbers are fictitious and no refunds. Check out fractional reserve lending (a loan of something not owned) and fictional economic indicators (based on hedonics and imputations).
Smiling Bob ain’t smiling right now…
Sounds like they did take it from Bob — and Steve, John, Al, Tom, Fred…
This stuff works great! Better than taking wads of cash from Charles Keating!
One of the biggest boners I have ever seen.
May be he can sell his wares to the jailmates when they make him their b&*ch.
Justice Control at 5:06, I still don’t see how farming can help as a male enhancement remedy.
All this time I really did keep wondering how those ads stayed on the air, given truth in advertising laws. I’m amazed it took so long to shut them down.
Did the stuff kill anybody? Did it make anybody sick? How come the makers of Vioxx make a drug that kills tens of thousands and nobody goes to jail but this guy gets 25 years?
Because Vioxx was marketed with the approval of the federal government. This product was a scam.
Government Approval = Bigger Scam
THIS IS WHY YOU GO TO A DOCTOR INSTEAD OF BUYING A BOTTLE OF PILLS! IDIOTS!! WHO NEEDS ANYTHING LIKE THAT? THE BEST REMEDY FOR E.D. IS HAVING THE RIGHT PARTNER. NOW, THAT IS A STIFF SENTENCE!
“All this time I really did keep wondering how those ads stayed on the air, given truth in advertising laws. I’m amazed it took so long to shut them down.”
Because they never actually say the stuff works in the commercials. All they say is Bob took it and now he is smiling and the girls in the office are talking about him.
How about bank CEO’s who gave away billions of other people moneys and still have their jobs, and the only thing that could land you in jail is wanting to help people to get a larger erection.
These ads are STILL running where I live! Amazing! The FDA and FTC should be granted broud authority to bring these sorts of scams to heal. Same with all the “natural” and homeopathic “medicines” and other herbal supplements , all which make outrageous claims with little or no scientfic or medical evidence to back them up. unfortunately, the FDA can’^T% do much about them because Congress listened to the lobbysists (and took the cash)of the “natural” supplements industry a few years ago, and gav ethem all a pass!
Smilin Bob and I play golf together every weekend, and neither of us tee off with anything less than a 9 iron…
Why do the “sponsored links” over on the right margin of this page have links for more baloney male enhancement products?
They pay hard cash.
YOU ALL STILL HAVE ABOUT THREE MONTHS TO COMPLAIN. AT LEAST.. THAT’S HOW LONG THE COMPANY HAS TO PAY. COMPLAIN ALL YOU WANT BUT THE COMPANY IS STILL HANGING ON BY A THREAD. I LIVE IN CINCINNATI AND KNOW A LOT ABOUT THIS CASE. I DON’T KNOW IF BERKELEY IS GOING TO STAY OPEN OR NOT BUT DON’T EXPECT BOB TO STOP SMILING FOR AT LEAST THREE MORE MONTHS!
25 Years is way too long of a sentence for basically nothing!
People chose to buy his product, he didn’t force it on people! I know people who have committed murders who have gotten way less time!
He wasn’t convicted because the ads lie. The case wasn’t even about whether the product works. The case was about how the product was paid for basically. In other words, the conviction came (no pun intended) because everyone who ordered the stuff was put on an automatic renewal program which meant their credit card kept being charged and charged and charged and no one could ever get off (again, no pun intended) that program. The company didn’t answer calls, told people they had no records of them, etc.
I knew there was a question when they sponsored a NASCAR car. That’s a jump the shark move almost every time.
If I were this guy. I would take a page from Kobi Alexander and make a break for it. Although, he might want to keep a lower profile on the lamb.
If “on the lamb” is yet another sexual reference, I’m scratching my head over it…
I get the “on the lamb” comment.
Does anyone think it may be possible that this company grew so fast that it was unable to handle the growth? Isn’t it also possible that this company was cuttng into the Pharmacuitical company’s turf and the lobbiest for the pharm companies are backing this all the way? How can you sentence Steve to the same amount of time that the World Com and Enron guy recieved? If the monies are repaid to the consumers that were “ripped off” and Steve has corrected the way the comapny operates, then why ruin a family and deprive his young children of their father?
wait…r u saying enzyte doesn’t work…that it was all me?!?! WHOO-HOO!
Twenty five years! Now there’s a case of Penal Enhancement!
The active ingredient in the brand name ED medications made and sold by the major multi-national pharmaceutical companies, were actually discovered via research done in universities and paid for by US Govt. funds. That is taxpayers’ money. So why have these companies not poid royalties to the US Government? Why are they allowed to hold (invalid) patents on chemicals they did not discover in their labs? They have made $billions in the US and around the world, so why is this allowed to happen? This is theft on a grand scale. Will no one take up this cause? Eliot Spitzer, I for one miss you. At least you were not a Mr. Milquetoast.
Find your inner peace without medication.
A) They were rather creative commercials - usually not slipping into the offensive category while still bringing a smile.
B) Why must I believe with such certainty that the judge who gave this sentence was an unhappy customer or had a few friends in the bathhouse scene who were unhappy customers.
C) Did many Americans really believe this stuff worked?
This product was not FDA approved and had no valid testing done to prove it works. I feel that the consumer was the idiot that should have never bought the product in the first place. He should have know that the three products for ED are all FDA approved and have proven to work in most cases.
Well I know I certainly support caning a 75 year old woman with terminal cancer. The case law is all for it and I’m sure the 8th Amendment doesn’t apply in the Bush Administration anyway.
to conspiracy: “Does anyone think it may be possible that this company grew so fast that it was unable to handle the growth?”
I know first hand that is exactly what happened!
I love this country!
but, why throw the guy in jail at all? there are just so many morons on this planet.
this guy was preying on sexual deviants anyway…
TWO THINGS:
1)This would make a great HBO movie.With the exception of WALL STREET & BOILER ROOM…most business movies suck.This one would be swallowed by the public.(chuckle)
2) I’m surprised this scam originated from someplace other than Ft.Lauderdale/Boca Raton.C’mon…you guys are gettin’ soft down there.(pun intended)
It isn’t that the product didn’t work. The judge didn’t say that. The problem was that the company that sold Enzyte wouldn’t just sell you the product, they would “enroll” you in a program and automatically send you the product and charge your credit card. They would not take returns and would not stop charging you.
Anyone who bought this stuff shouldn’t be allowed to vote.
I read some of these comments, and I am ashamed for you. To say that people with ED are deviants and that they are perverts is just wrong. This company preyed on insecurity and counted on people being ashamed of their physical condition to get away with credit card fraud. Making sweeping statements as to their psychiatric condition like that shows what narrow minded, petty people you can be. You should be ashamed. I guess this is the type reader the WSJ gets when it was bought by the same company that owns the New York Post. Quality journalism, quality reader.
I alway wondered what would happened if Enzyte did work. Would men keep taking it even after getting to “normal” size or would pant manufactures have to make pants with three legs?
Why is the WSJ not filtering the Sponsored links ad on the right? Instead, it is further promoting this modern day snake oil. Why does he get 25 years and I have to watch the same commercials in which others promote this same nonsense? Why not go after them all?
For “you should be ashamed” - you’re reading it, right???
This product worked wonders for me….went from 5 cm to 15 over a 3 month time frame.
You all are getting Enzyte and Extenze mixed up. Extenze is the one with the obnoxious “certain part of the male anatomy” commercials.
Why did it take so long for the govt to do something? Rethuglican contributor, maybe?
Recycled joke. Crooks knocked over a van containing Enzyte. Police are now looking for a group of HARDENED criminals.
I am glad they put him in jail, that smiling Bob commercial nauseated me, now they need to put the Oxyclean guy in jail too, the one with the beard that screams all during his commercial.
25 years of hard time
I bet if they gave some of that $500 million to the GOP they would have never got in trouble…everyone knows if your going to obviously bilk the system you need to grease the wheel.
More nanny government protecting stupid people.
Where can i get this stuff?
If it’s against the law to lie in an advertisement and mislead customers into purchases with false claims… why isn’t EVERY marketing professional in jail?
you are all quoting the wrong product. the other one is extenze, but i am sure just as lame. Enzyte is the one with the smiling guy.
A cow-orker of mine said that if he responded to every spam that promised an enhanced organ, he would now be a hazard to air navigation.
just watched enzyte commercial a few minutes on time warner cable,still funny as hell……
This stuff wasn’t supposed to fix ED, it was supposed to increase the size of your penis.
My wife’s comment to me: “don’t you dare!”
There is simply no way Berkley could have fraudulently charged their way to $500M using a $50 a month autoship. For every one of the plaintiffs there are tens of thousands of satisfied customers. Enzyte’s formula (as well as ExtenZe and several others) contains herbs and vitamins known for centuries to improve circulation, boost energy, and raise mental acuity, all of which directly affect sexuality, as does the hope and belief in an improved sex life. Warshack may be a criminal at some level, and some people may have had trouble cancelling their continuity program (third-party call centers typically handle this, not the manufacturer) but at least Warshack went through the hassle of building a company, creating jobs, formulating a product, shooting a commercial, buying airtime, contributing to the economy, and helping millions of men have even the hope of better intimacy. All the bureaucrats, politicians and lawyers ever do is take, take, take from the wealthiest and most successful.
LOL
Well I guess “as seen on TV” does not mean something is true, does it!
What a concept - that commercials might be lies.
I think this falls under the heading “a fool and his money.”
i agree with no hard feelings. free that man!
I work for a shop which sells the erecaid pump for 213.65 with tax plus shipping….anyone wanting 2-4 inches in girth..+ 1.5-2 in length should call us….this thing works…6 month warentee….call us please…912# jOkers or the comedy store
Hey ‘loved the show’, the annoying-laugh guy on “Welcome Back Kotter” was HOrshack, not Warshack. It was a proud name in his country — it means “the cattle are dying.”
The hilarious thing is that the FTC (not the FCC mind u) sits back and lets these ads air until the “take” they will get in a lawsuit is big enough to go after! That’s why it was on air so long; happens a lot, acutally.
Kafka, you got it right,25 years is really extreme, considering all the lies sold to us by many companies and the government, too.
By now, all consumers should be skeptical of fantastic claims about products that do extraordinary things. Let the buyer beware!
To all of you who comment that 25 years is appropriate because you were annoyed by the commercials, and all of you who joke about prison rape, I’d like to remind you that this is a man with 4 children, 3 of whom are under the age of 10. Though mistakes were made, nobody was hurt, killed or ruined financially by Enzyte or Warshak. The most anyone lost was $69.95. And not a penny of the money seized is being returned to the customers it came from, it will likely go into the pockets of the “heroes”, our government. Wouldn’t that make them guilty of profiting off of the poor, victimized customers, just as they’re punishing Warshak for doing? But he gets 25 years? And that’s funny? How about you guys call his 3 year old and tell him some jokes about his dad getting ass-raped. I bet he’d get a kick out of it.
FREE THAT MAN!There are a lot more people out there that this man has helped than he has done wrong.I gurauntee that that man would of refunded the money to all of the people that wanted there money back,if he was able to keep up with how many sales were coming in.You try to start a company have millions of people ordering and try to keep up with the returns,It probably wasn’t even that, it was the people at the call center that probably didn’t do there job right and now he is in jail! So tell me that every time you make a mistake in business you should go to jail.Thats a bunch of BS this man contributed more to this economy then anyone of the people that says he should go to jail.There are a lot worse criminals that are in public office than this man.On top of it all the product works!It is all of the drug companys that probably paid off people to lock this man up so the can have all the profits back!!!! Talk about a CONSPIRICY!!!!!
It’s a shame Steve Warshak would take advantage of desperate and gullible men to fatten his own pockets with ill-gotten gain. I hope he has “a sackful of confidence” to survive the beatings I hope he gets during his stay in prison.
Do male enhancement that really work?
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Enhanced, or not, Steve Warshak’s sex life is all behind him now. (pun intended)
