I can't feel disappointed in Aaron at all. I would probably do the same thing in his position.
I'm disappointed in a society and a 'justice' system that pushes for this to happen.
How many less than the figure that was being thrown around as his possible sentence is he supposedly a disappointment to us all for avoiding?
Oh, I forgot, he can be an activist from prison? Nothing to worry about then!
How many on here would honestly do it for even 5 years? I wouldn't. I'd sooner kill myself out of spite.
Orin Kerr suggests that the likely outcome would have been "anything from probation to a few years", depending on where the judge landed on the financial damages.
Popehat has a really good take (as usual) on the circumstances faced by Aaron Swartz, but it's not as specific as Kerr's, which is the most detailed breakdown I've seen available on what actually happened with the case:
http://volokh.com/2013/01/16/the-criminal-charges-against-aa...
Some jail time wouldn't have been enough. I think he would have done that. Maybe while in there, bad things might have happened.
But, it was obvious to me Schwartz understood code, people, how to organize and advocacy. He wanted to build a body of people and power and do some things.
To him, a felony conviction undermines all of that, and he saw it as useless, himself useless.
That Aaron let it get into his head and could not or would not seek help, nor really understanding so many people would have his back is tragic.