A German court on Thursday convicted five people of plotting to overthrow the government in a far-right coup and kidnap the former health minister.

The Koblenz Higher Regional Court sentenced the four ringleaders to prison sentences between five years and nine months to eight years. A fifth defendant received a sentence of two years and 10 months, German news agency dpa reported.

The defendants, four men aged 46 to 58 and a 77-year-old woman, were accused of founding or being a member of a terrorist organization called �United Patriots� and of preparing a highly treasonous enterprise against the German government.

Federal prosecutors said during the trial that the group was linked to the so-called Reich Citizens scene that rejects the legitimacy of Germany�s postwar constitution and has similarities to the Sovereign Citizens and QAnon movements in the United States.

Prosecutors said they intended to create �conditions similar to civil war� by using explosives to cause nationwide blackouts and then by kidnapping former Health Minister Karl Lauterbach � a prominent advocate of strict coronavirus measures during the pandemic.

There were no indications the group, which called itself United Patriots, was close to launching a coup. But prosecutors said the group�s procurement of weapons and money showed they were �dangerous criminals who wanted to implement their plans.�

The case is separate from that of the more than two dozen people arrested in December 2022, also for planning to topple the government. Among the plotters was a member of the far-right Alternative for Germany party.

(AP)