I thought there was no such thing as “debtor’s prison” in the US.
As usual, it’s legal sleight of hand and word games. You go into debt, they eventually file a lawsuit, you don’t show up because you’re too broke and depressed, and now you’ve got a bench warrant against you. Next time you’re pulled over for any driving infraction, you go straight to jail. Want to get out of jail before the trial on your earlier non-appearance charge? Well what do you know, the bail amount is exactly what you owed the original creditor.
I’m sure there’s more to the story. It’s either a failure to pay taxes, or failure to pay restitution as ordered by a court.
The operative phrase here is “criminal sentences.” They took money, served the time, and aren’t paying it back.