 Prosecution of the conspirators began in 1990 , when a federal grand jury brought <unk> against several of the key players . Some had fled the country , and <unk> proceedings against the <unk> and subsequent prosecution and conviction was not completed for sixteen years . The final <unk> was convicted in 2006 , when Catherine Jane <unk> agreed to return to the United States from Germany in order to be allowed to visit her ill son in Australia . Eight <unk> received sentences ranging from five years <unk> to five years in federal prison and an additional member of the <unk> commune pleaded guilty to murder conspiracy . <unk> was never <unk> in relation to the conspiracy , and left the United States after pleading guilty to immigration fraud and agreeing not to <unk> the country without permission from the U.S. Attorney General . 
