As a defense attorney you know how easy it is to run afoul of the law - without even knowing you've done so. And you know how often the prosecutors crank the meat grinder without even looking at the cases they are processing. They wield a huge bludgeon of disproportionate power and intimidate the F out of most defendants to force acceptance of ruinous "deals" that add another notch to the belt for them and destruction for the defendants.
Most people - FReepers included - just pray that they'll survive the encounter.
I do mostly federal criminal defense and this can be largely true in a lot of conspiracy cases. A lot of decent people will get hauled in simply because they worked a day to day job somewhere collecting a paycheck while the owners or others were doing a bunch of illegal crap. Does the US Attorney care about the lady with three kids working as a bookkeeper where the owners are running a scam she has no idea about? Hell no. They'll threaten her with 200 years in prison on 15 different counts, force a plea, she'll get 24-36 months and her life will be ruined for eternity--because some hotshot government prosecutor wants to make a name for himself and add a notch to his belt. Yes, it happens.