A motivational speaker and self-help author, James Arthur Ray, was released on parole Friday morning after being in prison for two years because of the death of three people at a sweat lodge that he hosted in 2009. Ray was convicted on three counts of negligent homicide and was originally facing nine years in prison, but at the end of 2012 he was sentenced only two years.
Ray, 55, was doing his time at a state prison in Buckeye, Arizona. The sweat lodge that he hosted was a very hot structure at a spiritual resort called “Angel Valley” in Sedona, Arizona. Its sole purpose was to help people have powerful breakthroughs. Instead, the heat was too intense and there was a possibility of toxins in the air, leaving Kirby Brown, James Shore, and Liz Newman dead.
CBS AZ reports that the families of those who died do not think that 600 days in prison was enough for Ray and are worried he will now try to get back into the industry.
"You can't put a timeframe on justice and you can't reverse things that have happened," said Tom McFeeley, the cousin of Kirby Brown. "She's in my thoughts every day and I think living like her is a way to honor her."
Ray has since taken responsibility for the deaths in the sweat lodge and claims he would have stopped the ceremony if he knew the heat had become too intense to handle.
According to Denver Channel, his brother, Jon Ray, says James Ray will always be interested in helping people but doesn’t think he has any plans to move back into the industry.
Since his release, Ray is on probation in Phoenix. Nothing in his parole restricts him from getting back into the industry if he chooses to do so.
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