"maximum statutory penalties" are not indicative of "worseness" of a crime. They are usually placed very high to give judges flexibility, and are somewhat arb

"maximum statutory penalties" are not indicative of "worseness" of a crime. They are usually placed very high to give judges flexibility, and are somewhat arbitrary, but they don't represent the average/median sentence handed down. Also, there is no single "illegal immigrant" law or sentence, but I'm certain there are some laws violated by illegal immigrants that carry the same meaningless unused "maximum statutory penalty". It is a common news media blunder of quoting the "maximum statutory penalty" - which is almost always irrelevant. Having said that, in this case, if it's a political/espionage arrest then they might in fact use it either in negotiations with the Chinese or in sentencing to pressure for more cooperation.