Yeah, everyone but Laskar (even other profs in the article) pretty much agree that he stole $50k. See the quotes from peers saying that eg this was an overreaction, or that their university would have handled it internally, but that all agrees with the facts. Laskar stole $50k. Maybe other places slap people on the hands for doing that, but that doesn't make this prosecution wrong.

The fact remains, Laskar stole the $50k. And as for prosecutorial misconduct, if you discover someone stole $50k, it's nothing like misconduct to go see what else he or she may have stolen.