With the Nazi spies arrested, there was then the question of what to do with them. It was decided that they would be tried in a military court, which had one major advantage — proceedings were confidential, and it meant that George Dasch's role in bringing down his comrades would remain a secret. As for Dasch, it was fairly easy to persuade him to keep his actual role silent, as he still had family back in Nazi Germany who would likely pay the ultimate price if his betrayal went public.
Evidence against the men was also kind of lacking — so lacking, in fact, that there were fears that charges might not even stick. FDR, on the other hand, was so determined to see the death penalty handed down that he called it (via the UMKC School of Law) "almost obligatory," and formed a military tribunal to hear the case. That was in July 1942 — on August 3, all eight were sentenced to the electric chair. Two — Dasch and Ernest Burger — had their sentences commuted to 30 years and life in prison, respectively, thanks to appeals for leniency by J. Edgar Hoover and attorney general Francis Biddle. On August 8, over the course of about three hours, the other six men were executed via the electric chair.
The way the case was tried was almost immediately controversial. Within months, military law experts found there was quite a bit that went against wartime laws, while back in Germany, Adolf Hitler condemned the whole sorry plan and reportedly said, "Why didn't you take Jews for that?"
