I hope you are right.
I do know that it was reported that the Feds probed Awan’s hacking for possible espionage (because of him being from Pakistan), then, when they could’t prove that, the went in the banking direction.
Many people suspect (as do I) that hacking charges were simply dropped because too many people were compromised and at risk of being revealed.
My thoughts are rather than let him off completely, they got him to plea for bank fraud.
Thank you for posting your response to my question. I hope he pays for what he did because I firmly believe he compromised people so severely that it has impacted their ability to govern.
I don’t think that the Feds settled for a lesser charge, I think they did that to control him.
The events he gave to them are basically jay-walking charges. The big stuff is on its way later and he will be convicted.