The problem is the punishment doesn't fit the crime, if she in fact broke the law. At most she saved about $34,000. I don't know if it's a Republican vendetta, but it sure looks like she's being setup as a scapegoat by the government.
I expect a plea bargain and a quiet end to this, if she can provide additional information on some Wall Street players. And by the way, she was a stockbroker before becoming the Queen of Housewifery, so she knew what the rules were.
Sure, this whole episode is a giant witch hunt. The Adelphia guys were scapegoats, all these guys are, to the extent that they may be getting sentenced overly severely for politics' sake. (Which point you made.)
Yes, these people probably violated the law, though, and it's about time that white collar crime was dealt with,(justly) for the health of the economy.
But more than these CEOs and so on, I blame all the people who made excuses for illegal behavior during the Clinton trial just because they were making money then, and they didn't want to upset the balance of profitability with a change of leadership.
You don't know ANY of the facts; yet you repeatedly and stupidly post your delusional protestations proMartha here. Do some homework, before you make an even larger fool of yourself on FR, by posting falsehoods . :-)
Of course, this is chump change compared to the loss in value of MSO.