Federal law and California law have this crime as a max 5 year and max 1 year respectively. http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/39A http://www.law.cornel

Federal law and California law have this crime as a max 5 year and max 1 year respectively. http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/39A http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/39A http://law.onecle.com/california/penal/247.5.html http://law.onecle.com/california/penal/247.5.html You should have noticed that this individual's sentence was lengthy because of a long history of crime. Not only that, this person was caught doing this particular crime twice. Your example of driving like an ass can encompass things like Reckless Operation, Racing, Impaired Operation, etc. When you get caught doing these things repeatedly over many years, you see prosecutors demanding maximum sentences, multiple "strike" mandates and penalties reactivated from previous paroled offences, etc.