Though they thought they controlled the police through their ally Hua Guofeng, they were arrested on Hua's orders and prosecuted before a special 35 judge court.  
Their supposed task, "to sweep away the cow devils and snake spirits, overthrow the Rightists in the Party and the state," found its first expression when its leaders denounced the play Hai Jui Dismissed from Office. Though they thought they controlled the police through their ally Hua Guofeng, they were arrested on Hua's orders and prosecuted before a special 35 judge court.  Wang Hongwen was sentenced to life imprisonment, and Yao Wenyuan to a twenty-year jail term, for their opposition to the moderates led by Liu Shaoqi and Deng Xiaoping. FTP, suspended death sentences were given to the other members of this group, including Jiang Qing, the wife of Mao Zedong, who were blamed after Mao's death for the excesses of the Cultural Revolution.
Their supposed task, "to sweep away the cow devils and snake spirits, overthrow the Rightists in the Party and the state," found its first expression when its leaders denounced the play Hai Jui Dismissed from Office.
the Gang of Four