Won’t see a day of jail time while Shkrelli gets 7 years.
First of all, the Theranos people haven't yet been brought up on criminal charges, but it's still possible they could be, no?
Secondly, I think there were lots of material differences between the two cases that caused them to be prosecuted differently. You can't just lump every instance of fraud as the same thing.
[1] The reason I only kind-of agree: you're phrasing it in a way that makes it seem clear. But I can easily phrase it as "it makes sense that defendants who show remorse, and are therefore less likely to commit the crime again, will get a lighter sentence, as opposed to defendants who are much more likely to repeat the crimes".
I agree courts, juries and judges are to be neutral, but a person like him just ends up getting under most people's skin. Even if there was no rational decision to go hard on him, I wouldn't be surprised if people subconsciously make that decision.
Criminality and psychopathy are tightly correlated, particularly with fraudsters. Psychopaths are excellent at faking remorse and other emotions that they do not actually feel.
I would not want the punishment of a criminal dependent on their acting skills.
If you get pulled over and call the cops a dick the second he walks up to your car, you're gonna have a bad time (and you deserve it.)
Dumbfounded by your words, a 800% increase from the average sentence is, I think completely ok in a just system.
That he got an 800% increase in sentence doesn't matter, as long as the conviction fell within the ranges set up by the law.
You can call a judge biased, but if he feels it's a correct sentence, then you're out of luck. You do know that is why we have judges right? In part to make judgement calls on sentences.
What happened to Martin is an injustice, and I'm saddened and disturbed by the people who celebrate it just because it was an injustice done against a "bad guy".
1. giving the finger to Congress
2. refusing to settle and going to court
3. talking shit the entire time he was on trial, both to court journalists and on TV ("junior varsity", etc.)
4. offering money for Clinton's DNA while on bond shortly after she lost the most embarrassing election of all time (while hilarious and obviously satire, of course "they" used this against him)
And I'm sure someone else could add to my list. Meanwhile, I don't even know what Holmes looks like, let alone what her voice sounds like.
More seriously, this is why often people who know they've been caught dead-to-rights settle early: the government wants the W and doesn't want to have to spend money to get it. Shkrelli made them go for the conviction, and so he got the actual, un-discounted penalty.