Timoci Silatolu, sometimes known as Ratu Timoci Silatolu, and Josefa Nata, were convicted of treason on 21 March 2003. They were sentenced to life imprisonment, with a minimum term of 9 years for Silatolu and 7 years for Nata. Silatolu, a disgruntled back-bench MP in the Chaudhry government, had made a crucial telephone call on the day of the coup, alerting his to-conspirators that the time was right for it, and was subsequently appointed to George Speight's rebel cabinet, first as Prime Minister then as Deputy Prime Minister after Speight himself claimed the office. Justice Andrew Wilson found that Silatolu and Nata, a journalist, had told many lies in their defence. In June that year, the pair were sentenced to life imprisonment. They had earlier rejected plea bargaining, refusing an offer of a seven-year sentence if they pleaded guilty.