A judge sentenced self-help guru James Ray on Friday to two years in jail for the deaths of three people following a sweat lodge ceremony in Arizona two years ago.
Yavapai County Superior Court judge Warren R. Darrow sentenced Ray to three two-year terms for the deaths of James Shore, Liz Neuman and Kirby Brown, who died after attending a personal growth seminar he led near Sedona, Ariz., in October 2009.
The terms were to run concurrently.
"There is a factor of deterrence that is very prominent in this case ... when a person has your incredible abilities to gain peoples' trust there is a lot of responsibilities that go along with it," Darrow told the court.
"I find the aggravating circumstance is so strong that probation is simply not warranted in this case ... A prison sentence is just mandated," he said.
Ray was also ordered to pay restitution of $57,514.12 to the victims' families and a fine of $20,000, plus a surcharge.
A jury in June found Ray guilty on three counts of negligent homicide. He faced a maximum sentence of three years in jail on each count.
The dead were among 56 participants who paid nearly $10,000 each to take part in Ray's "spiritual warrior" retreat, and were crammed into a four-foot tall sweat lodge, packed with superheated rocks, at the ceremony.
Shore, 40, and Brown, 38, were pronounced dead at the scene, while Neuman, 49, died several days later at a hospital in Flagstaff.
