Carlile was prosecuted for blasphemy, blasphemous libel and sedition for publishing material that might encourage people to hate the government in his newspaper, and for publishing Tom Paine's "Common Sense", "The Rights of Man" and the "Age of Reason" (which criticised the Church of England). In October 1819 he was found guilty of blasphemy and seditious libel and sentenced to three years in Dorchester Gaol with a fine of £1,500. When he refused to pay the fine, his premises in Fleet Street were raided and his stock was confiscated. While he was in jail he continued to write articles for "The Republican" which was now published by Carlile's wife Jane, and thanks to the publicity it now outsold pro-government newspapers such as "The Times".