Two Australians Jailed in Tea Scam

Two men have been sentenced in Los Angeles to terms in County Jail after pleading no contest Friday to trying to market a tea they falsely claimed would lower cholesterol and prevent heart attacks, prosecutors said Monday.

Peter Clarence Foster, 26, an Australian citizen, was ordered jailed by Municipal Court Commissioner Ralph Amado for four months after pleading no contest to two misdemeanor counts each of false advertising and falsely representing a drug to have medicinal qualities.

Foster also was ordered to pay $228,000 to 46 newspapers in California and other states which had published advertisements for the tea, but which were never paid for the ads.

Foster, who fled England after being charged in a similar tea swindle, was further ordered to spend an additional three months working on a Caltrans crew cleaning up Southern California freeways.

Trevor Brine, 42, also an Australian citizen, was sentenced to three months in jail after pleading no contest to one count each of false advertising and falsely representing a drug to have medicinal qualities.