ITV Infomercial Host Donald Barrett Pleads Guilty in Federal Court

Ubiquitous infomercial host Donald Barrett pled guilty on May 2 to charges of selling a drug not approved by the FDA (Supreme Greens) and not reporting income from another infomercial (Coral Calcium) on his tax return, as reported by the Boston Globe and the Salem News.

If you watch infomercials you’ve almost certainly seen Donald Barrett and heard his distinctive Boston accent. Through his company ITV Ventures, Mr. Barrett has appeared in dozens of infomercials, sometimes as host, sometimes as expert. He has worked with Kevin Trudeau (who has been dragging out his own court case for years) and Danny Vierra of Almighty Cleanse.

Nearly all of Donald Barrett’s ITV infomercials are what I like to call “grown up radio infomercials.” They sell health products which, in spite of any cursory disclaimers, are said to alleviate countless ailments. They all feature just an expert being interviewed by a host, usually without any customer testimonials or product demos added.

Here is an interesting video that shows Donald Barrett acting as host in the infomercial for Sea Vegg (with creator Scott Kennedy) and then playing the expert in an infomercial for a knock-off product called VeggieCal-D (interviewed by frequent collaborator Chloe Marshall):

Donald Barrett is scheduled to be sentenced on July 27 and is expected to receive a term of one year in prison. We will have to see if this legal development means the end of Mr. Barrett’s infomercial career, or if he will carry on triumphantly like his colleague Kevin Trudeau.

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A non-FDA-approved thanks to readers Steve D. and znkp for letting us know about the Donald Barrett story.