What this family did was pure evil, they should all be in jail not negotiating a settlement that will leave them financially secure and amongst the richest Americans.
Imagine if this scenario played out in China.
Imagine if this scenario played out in China.
1. nobody ever hears nor finds out anything because it's all kept within the party.
2. they are publically shamed and they are sent to a re-education camp never to be seen or heard again.
my 2 cents...
The political structure in the west encourage these kinds of crimes. If you can exploit millions to make billions then you can settle in the event of criminal persecution, hire a pr firm to take care of public optics, and donate generously to parties in power to ensure that the pesky prosecutor/attorney-general is sufficiently motivated not to attempt to make an example out of you.
In this case it doesn't look like they even bothered hiring a PR firm (or they're doing a piss poor job), and they seem to be getting off "fine".
China would have zero tolerance due to their opium history that was imposed by the west. This is even more insidious however as the country’s institutions were mislead and this family made billions on the back of their countrymen’s misery.
They'll take a plea, say "aww gee sorry", and ride off into the sunset with billions. It's the American way.
Because it didn't happen, people will just impose their own preconceptions on it.
The simple reality is that the Chinese would absolutely not accept this resolution and in fact would consider the actions of the Sacklers to be completely unforgivable, which brings the American reaction into stark contrast.