&gt; For downloading academic papers, he was facing a punishment that could have gone to literally millions of dollars in fines and up to 35 years in prison<p>He wasn&#x27;t realistically facing 35 years. He could not get anywhere near that under the federal sentencing guidelines. See this prior discussion for details: <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;news.ycombinator.com&#x2F;item?id=7996807" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;news.ycombinator.com&#x2F;item?id=7996807</a><p>In particular, be sure to read this article linked to in the first comment, which explains exactly how the numbers given in DOJ press releases have very little connection to reality: <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;popehat.com&#x2F;2013&#x2F;02&#x2F;05&#x2F;crime-whale-sushi-sentence-eleventy-million-years&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;popehat.com&#x2F;2013&#x2F;02&#x2F;05&#x2F;crime-whale-sushi-sentence-el...</a><p>Also see these two article if you want details specifically on how sentencing works on the specific charges Swartz faced:<p><a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.volokh.com&#x2F;2013&#x2F;01&#x2F;14&#x2F;aaron-swartz-charges&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.volokh.com&#x2F;2013&#x2F;01&#x2F;14&#x2F;aaron-swartz-charges&#x2F;</a><p><a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.volokh.com&#x2F;2013&#x2F;01&#x2F;16&#x2F;the-criminal-charges-against-aaron-swartz-part-2-prosecutorial-discretion&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.volokh.com&#x2F;2013&#x2F;01&#x2F;16&#x2F;the-criminal-charges-agains...</a><p>Prosecutors in the Swartz case were actually asking for about 7 years, which was still much higher than they were likely to get. Swartz&#x27;s own lawyer thought that he&#x27;d probably just get probation if convicted.<p>The DOJ really needs to stop using this stupid method of writing press releases. They wrote the indictment and so they sure as hell better know exactly what they are charging and what facts they are alleging, so they should be able to figure out the guideline sentence that would result if they won on all counts. That&#x27;s what should be in the press release.