During the subsequent prosecution of the kidnappers, two judges, one from the appeals court and one from the supreme court, attempted to extort millions of baht from the ringleader of the kidnapping plot, RTP Lieutenant General Chalo Koetthet. Both judges were charged with corruption and fired in 2001. After the original 2002 conviction was appealed, the Appeals Court implemented much stricter sentencing in 2004, including a death sentence for the ringleader, LTG Chalo. The Supreme Court upheld the death sentence in October 2009, as well as sentences of varying degrees of severity for the accomplices. While some of the defendants have been acquitted, or had the charges dismissed against them as the case worked its way through the judicial system, at least one of the accused has died in prison. Many superstitious Thai citizens theorized that the Blue Diamond was cursed.