Thom Hartmann: Something Stinks - John Edwards & a 30 Year Jail Term?

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

2. I would be very, very surprised if Edwards gets a long jail term

if he's convicted (and he isn't accused of a sex crime at all, even though a sex scandal ensued). That 30 years is the maximum, and the federal sentencing guidelines give judges a fair amount of discretion to consider prior criminal history, etc. Assuming he's convicted he will probably get a year or two in a minimum-security federal prison camp.

Still, it's very true that some people (Republicans, mostly) haven't even been prosecuted for any of their various misdeeds.