In the late 1990s, Metabolife was a wonder drug. It was a "natural" food supplement that stripped away pounds without diet or exercise. Sales of the product zoomed to over $1 billion a year. However, that came to an end, as Metabolife was blamed for seizures, heart attacks and strokes. Ellis faced prosecution for tax evasion, weapons violations and lying to the FDA.
Michael Ellis, founder of the diet pill company Metabolife, just completed a six-month term in federal prison.
Ellis pleaded guilty to lying to the Food and Drug Administration about a letter that claimed no customer complaints about Metabolife.In a new book, Ellis said the he did not know about the letter until two years after the fact.
