There should be no leniency. The fact that this guy dragged a mother and her two children out of their own car and drove off is enough to traumatize those kids for a good long while.
He needs to be taken out of civilized society for a couple of years and think about what he did.
I remember a car accident that happened with my dad and a sister back in 1961. Nobody was badly hurt, but even still, it leaves a mark on kids when their sense of security is snatched away for a while.
It’s NOLA, I doubt the kids will be too traumatized.