1. The only other cases available for the prosecuting attorneys with the kind of legal background needed to prosecute cases like Aaron's were of even lesser lik

1. The only other cases available for the prosecuting attorneys with the kind of legal background needed to prosecute cases like Aaron's were of even lesser likely jail times (i.e. the "they'd be twiddling their thumbs otherwise" claim). 2. Or maybe, the seriousness of a crime is not actually completely correlated to the likely prison sentence. The prison sentence given should be based on what is required to prevent recurrence by the suspect in this particular case, and to prevent new occurrences of the same crime by others. E.g. if you could prevent theft of $20 million with a $5 padlock you'd normally call that a wise investment.