Lake forged incriminating letters. Lady Exeter charged Lake, his wife, his son and his daughter with defamation of character. Anne was accused of "precontracts, adultery, incest, murder, poison" against her husband, Lord Roos. As part of the legal action, Lake and his wife submitted a bill to the Star Chamber, which was defended by Lord Roos who counter-sued with a bill submitted by his grandfather, the Earl of Exeter. On 14 February 1617/18, the King expressed his annoyance with Lake because of Lady Roos' slanders against Frances, Countess of Exeter. On 22 February, Lady Roos was committed into the Bishop of London's custody, her maid to the custody of Edmund Doubleday, and Thomas Lake's attorney and Luke Hutton were imprisoned. Lady Roos was freed on 5 March. King James chose to judge the case in person, adjudicating the trial in the Star Chamber in two morning sessions on 3 and 5 February 1619/20. The King found them all guilty, although he found Lake himself guilty of less serious crimes than the others. The King and the Lords in the Star Chamber passed sentence on 13 February 1619/20. Huge fines exceeding £10,000 were imposed upon the family and two days later Lake, his wife, and Lady Roos his daughter were consigned to the Tower. The fines were almost all due to the Crown and little compensation was offered to Lady Exeter. Lake also had to surrender his seal and public documents. One of his duties, while confined to the tower, was the chopping of wood. On 21 April, Lake's son and secretary William was put in custody because he attempted to pass secret letters to Lady Roos and tried to escape when accosted and on 3 June Arthur Lake was placed in custody having published a slanderous pamphlet. But the misbehaviour was not confined to the Lakes: Parker, Clerk of the Star Chamber, was also incarcerated on 3 June for acting in bad faith in examining Lady Roos. On 19 June, Lake was brought back to the Star Chamber and told that he must make a public confession that the sentence brought against him was just, and that he had inflicted an injury upon the Countess of Exeter. He pleaded not guilty; so too did his wife, even though their daughter had confessed that her slanders about incest with Lady Roos, poisoning, and requests for forgiveness for crimes were inventions written