Well, Tom, I agree that our justice system is unequal and full of inconsistencies in the application of the law. But I disagree with your opinion of the demographic who benefits- last I saw of Keith, he is rather white and I would bet that if he can write the government a check for $250k, he is comfortably in the "Top 10%".
Like Pete P, my heart goes out to Keith's employees who had several jobs lined up (I am aware of two clubs which still have not fired him, yet) and are most likely blameless. Other than deterrence, what does the government gain by putting Keith in jail and preventing him from earning?
And I was under the impression that even the most serious of crimes, capital murder, are not deterred by the severest of punishments, death. If Keith was a bricklayer working with Habitat For Humanity, would they throw the book at him? What if he was of a different race? Is he being made an example to inform others, or is he a trophy and a chit to justify a bonus for the bureaucracy?
We were talking about the offenses yesterday and how it might have come to the attention of the authorities. Did Keith really do something to endanger the existence of important species, or was his flaunting of laws that many don't regard as reasonable or necessary land him in the can? How many of us knowingly violate laws which we might hold in similar disregard? There are more than 50 volumes of laws, way too many to count individually, 4500+ federal crimes alone. With a prosecutor on a mission and an unlimited budget, are any of us safe from one day wearing stripes?
It is a very competitive market in Keith's line of work. Wonder how he came to the attention of the government?
Trump has signed a bill to reduce the punishment for some very serious crimes that did not involve violence. I hope that the authorities and the judge consider the nature of the crimes in meting out punishment, as well as who is being punished and why.