That would encourage every “ally” to recruit spies. You could easily make it worthwhile for someone to spend five years or less in prison.
Pay me a million dollars (especially if tax free) and I’ll go to lockup for that period of time. Great wages for watching TV, and that’s only if I get convicted.
Puh-leeze. Doing five years of prison time is not a pleasant experience, especially for a “white collar” criminal, someone who is accustomed to at least a middle class standard of living. Plus whatever illicit income he had accumulated from his handlers would likely be confiscated in some form or another, and rightly so.
Let’s see you last a day in a tough prison (Pollard has been in the worst) let alone 5 years before you talk tough.