> but there’s something called the Sentencing Guideline

But which are, as the name suggests, “more what you’d call guidelines than actual rules.”

Still, a better measure of likely sentence than naively adding up statutory maxima for individual counts.

I think the Feds were after him pretty hard, they are rather vindictive and take his types of statements personally and that they encourage others to try and beat the system as well. Rarely is it only "the crime". Political ambition and Puritanical outlooks on morality often figure in with federal prosecutors.

> Political ambition and Puritanical outlooks on morality often figure in with federal prosecutors.

Perhaps, but prosecutors don’t unilaterally set sentences, and neither of those are either guidelines factors or things that you can cite to get a trial court to depart from (and an appeals court to uphold departure from) the guidelines.

Interestingly, I’ve just listened to Kahneman’s “Noise”, which features a whole chapter about Sentencing Guidelines in the US! Very good book!