Donald D. Lapre (May 19, 1964 – October 2, 2011) was an American

multi-level marketing Multi-level marketing (MLM), also called network marketing or pyramid selling, is a controversial marketing strategy for the sale of products or services in which the revenue of the MLM company is derived from a non-salaried workforce selling th ...

and infomercial salesman. His work involved product packages such as "The Greatest Vitamin in the World" and "Making Money Secrets". Lapre was criticized as selling questionable business plans that often did not work for his clients. In June 2011, Lapre was charged with 41 counts of conspiracy,

mail fraud Mail fraud and wire fraud are terms used in the United States to describe the use of a physical or electronic mail system to defraud another, and are federal crimes there. Jurisdiction is claimed by the federal government if the illegal activity ...

wire fraud Mail fraud and wire fraud are terms used in the United States to describe the use of a physical or electronic mail system to defraud another, and are federal crimes there. Jurisdiction is claimed by the federal government if the illegal activity ...

, and promotional money laundering related to his Internet businesses. He was arrested on June 24, 2011, for failing to appear in court to face these charges. He died on October 2, 2011, while in jail awaiting trial. The autopsy report stated that he died of blood loss after cutting his throat with a razor blade.

Business ventures

Born in

Providence, Rhode Island Providence is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Rhode Island. One of the oldest cities in New England, it was founded in 1636 by Roger Williams, a Reformed Baptist theologian and religious exile from the Massachusetts ...

, Lapre moved to

Phoenix, Arizona Phoenix ( ; nv, Hoozdo; es, Fénix or , yuf-x-wal, Banyà:nyuwá) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Arizona, with 1,608,139 residents as of 2020. It is the fifth-most populous city in the United States, and the on ...

with his family when he was a child. He married Sally Redondo in 1988. A high-school dropout, Lapre, together with his wife, started a

credit repair :''This article deals with the general concept of the term credit history. For detailed information about the same topic in the United States, see Credit score in the United States.'' A credit history is a record of a borrower's responsible repay ...

business called Unknown Concepts in 1990. Lapre then began selling a 36-page booklet explaining how to recover a

Federal Housing Administration The Federal Housing Administration (FHA), also known as the Office of Housing within the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), is a United States government agency founded by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, created in part by ...

insurance refund after paying off a home mortgage. He also began offering "900" phone lines. On TV infomercials in the early–mid 1990s, he claimed that by placing "tiny classified ads" in newspapers he was "able to make $50,000 a week from istiny one-bedroom apartment". In 1992, Lapre began broadcasting ''The Making Money Show with Don Lapre'', which suggested that viewers could make money as easily as he had. For several years the show was ranked among the 10 most frequently broadcast cable television infomercials. The principal product was Lapre's "Money Making Secrets", a package of booklets, tapes, and common-sense tips for placing ads and operating a 900-number business. The product was sold through New Strategies, whose parent company was Tropical Beaches. He later began broadcasting infomercials for "The Greatest Vitamin in the World". In 2005, the

Food and Drug Administration The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA or US FDA) is a List of United States federal agencies, federal agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services, Department of Health and Human Services. The FDA is respon ...

(FDA) warned Lapre about claims his vitamins were intended as a drug for diseases such as diabetes, stroke, heart disease, insomnia, cancer, and arthritis. The FDA stated " isproducts erenot

generally recognized as safe and effective Generally recognized as safe and effective (abbreviated as GRASE, GRAS/E, or GRAS/GRAE) is designation for certain old drugs that do not require prior approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in order to enter the United States marketpl ...

for the above referenced conditions." In 2006, the FDA again warned Lapre about untruthful claims.

Charges

According to a June 15, 2011, Associated Press article, Lapre was indicted by a federal grand jury in

, on June 8, 2011, on accusations of running a nationwide scheme to sell worthless Internet businesses. Federal prosecutors accused Lapre of bilking more than 220,000 victims out of nearly $52 million. He was charged with 41 counts of conspiracy, mail fraud, wire fraud, promotional money laundering, and transactional money laundering. A federal judge issued a bench warrant for Lapre on June 22, 2011, after he failed to appear at his arraignment. On June 27, 2011, Lapre was arrested in

Tempe, Arizona , settlement_type = City , named_for = Vale of Tempe , image_skyline = Tempeskyline3.jpg , imagesize = 260px , image_caption = Tempe skyline as se ...

, at a

Life Time Fitness Life Time, Inc. is a chain of health clubs in the United States and Canada. History The company was founded by chairman and chief executive officer, Bahram Akradi. The company was incorporated in 1990 as FCA, Ltd., a Minnesota corporation, and ...

center, where he had reportedly lived for two days, with serious self-inflicted knife wounds to his groin. The wounds led authorities to believe Lapre had attempted suicide while at Life Time Fitness by attempting to sever the

femoral artery The femoral artery is a large artery in the thigh and the main arterial supply to the thigh and leg. The femoral artery gives off the deep femoral artery or profunda femoris artery and descends along the anteromedial part of the thigh in the f ...

in his legs.

Death

Lapre died on October 2, 2011, while in jail awaiting his trial, which was scheduled to begin on October 4, 2011. The autopsy report stated that he died of massive blood loss after cutting his throat with a razor blade and had wrapped himself in sheets to conceal the massive blood loss from anyone who might try to save him.

In popular culture

David Spade David Wayne Spade (born July 22, 1964) is an American actor, stand-up comedian, television host, and writer. He was a cast member on ''Saturday Night Live'' in the 1990s, and he later began an acting career in both film and television. He also s ...

appeared in two sketches parodying Don Lapre on ''

Saturday Night Live ''Saturday Night Live'' (often abbreviated to ''SNL'') is an American late-night live television sketch comedy and variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC and Peacock (streaming service), Peacock. ...

''. * John C. McGinley played Dick Dupre, a spoof of Don Lapre and his astrologer Melissa Lipnutz, in the film '' Puff, Puff, Pass''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lapre, Don 1964 births 2011 suicides American television personalities Consumer fraud Infomercials People who committed suicide in prison custody Businesspeople from Providence, Rhode Island Television personalities from Phoenix, Arizona American salespeople Suicides by sharp instrument in the United States Suicides in Arizona American people who died in prison custody Prisoners who died in United States federal government detention American confidence tricksters 20th-century American businesspeople