Oh Guru, Where Aren't Thou?

Hays County Sheriff's office

Swamiji had been convicted in Hays County last Friday and was expected to appear in San Marcos Monday for the punishment phase of his trial.

However, the guru never showed.

Prosecutors initially sought to continue with sentencing in Swamiji's absence but District Judge Charles Ramsay sent the jury home with orders to reconvene Tuesday morning. With no guru in sight the next day, the judge proceeded with the sentencing.

According to the Statesman, Judge Ramsay gave Swamiji one hour before revoking his $1 million cash bond and issuing a warrant for his arrest.

Reports on when exactly the guru disappeared were conflicting. A Hays County Sheriff's Department spokeswoman testified in court that the guru was last seen Saturday evening at a Driftwood home owned by one of his devotees. But according to other reports, he didn't disappear until Sunday evening.

In any case, even his lawyers were in the dark. "We have not located our client; we don't know the reason for his absence," Jeff Kearney, Prakashanand's Fort Worth-based lead attorney, told the paper. The news was equally as dim from other parts of the guru's camp.

Since Swamiji had been wheelchair bound for more than a year due to back problems, deputies contacted every hospital in San Marcos, Austin and New Braunfels in their search.

Swamiji's failure to appear didn't help his case, such as it was, and has financial ramifications for at least one of his devotees, Peter Spiegel. Spiegel, a Barsana Dham officer, put up the $1 million for Swamiji's cash bond, and also had signed a $10 million indemnity agreement with authorities four years ago so prosecutors would return the guru's passport.

Swamiji remains at large as of this posting.