Eventually, Hollywood ordered Markowitz to be killed after learning he could face life in prison for kidnapping and demanding ransom.

Hoyt stated that his only role in the crime was accidentally giving a duffel bag containing the handgun, which he believed to contain only marijuana, to Jesse Rugge.

Hoyt remained on death row at San Quentin State Prison until January 2024 when his sentence was commuted to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole.

Superior Court Judge Brian Hill granted Hoyt's motion to vacate the death sentence, indicating he was swayed that Hoyt's inexperienced attorney Owen was deficient during the penalty phase of the trial, and that he was a "youthful offender" with "mental deficits" that made execution inappropriate.

Hoyt was subsequently transferred to the California Men's Colony in San Luis Obispo to serve his life sentence.