Did the US government prosecute them and make them send out the refunds?
No, in fact the FTC stopped them making refunds for months, just check the forums or their website! They were already sending out refunds on a voluntary basis (because of all the massive delays) and then a few months ago the
http://www.ftc.gov knee-jerked them.
I cannot say BFL are the good guys and FTC the bad guys but they were definitely sending refunds BEFORE FTC or the court did anything.