Thunberg said she did not regard the men as a threat to the community or a flight risk, but instead as men with abiding family support. Thunberg directed deputy sheriffs to process the men and return them to the courtroom so they could be reunited with their families after serving 50 days at the Adult Correctional Institutions since their March 12 arrest by Rhode Island State Police. Assistant Attorney General Mark Trovato had asked that they remain held without bail as the case proceeded. (A 16-year-old male also implicated in the case was freed earlier after the state dropped its objections to his release.)