Tom Tingle / AP Photo
Sweat lodges are often used by natural healers to cleanse the body and soul, but a well-known self-help author took the ritual too far. James Arthur Ray was given three, two-year prison sentences on Friday on charges of negligent homicide after three people died in a sweat-lodge ceremony he led in October 2009. Roughly half way through the two-hour “Spiritual Warrior” ceremony, several people reportedly showed signs of serious physical distress, while others were vomiting and struggling to breathe by the end. Two people were pronounced dead on the spot, while a third slipped into a coma and died a week later. Ray pleaded for forgiveness and told the court he would have stopped the ceremony had he known his “warriors” were dying or in physical distress. Correction: News summary previously said Ray was sentenced to six years in prison.