They are making an example of him. He’s like the accountant of a mafia family. He’s facilitating their crimes, even if all he is doing is recording transactions.
He’s not innocent, even if the sentence is probably too harsh.
Facilitating should not get you a double life sentence!
The sentence on the face of it seems harsh and needs to be looked at by someone!
I agree with your assessment, he facilitated some pretty nasty stuff, I don’t think the penalty is overly harsh.