As of June 7, 2014 Fichter was being held in the Polk County Jail with a bond set at US$520,000. Fichter was convicted and, on July 2, 2015, was sentenced to 22 years' imprisonment. A Polk County judge called her a predator during sentencing. The sentencing by Judge Glenn T. Shelby was immediately controversial, with the unusually long sentence being reviled by many, especially in Europe.
