It is an exceptionally high sentence. The loss numbers were so incredibly large, and on top of that this case has gotten so much attention.

In the federal system, outside of maximum-security places, generally people are physically safe. I don't think anybody would say that about New York state prison. And from a state perspective, this is one of the longest sentences in a corporate fraud case that I can recall.

They're going from one end of society all the way to the other.

In general there's a rule of thumb that one year in the state system is worth two or three in the federal system.

These sentences frankly are out of control. You get a sentence that's akin to what you would get for a homicide or for rape. In a white collar case, it doesn't seem to make a lot of sense.

Why did Causey enter a plea so close to the trial? The reality of it, the unavoidability of it, finally hit him.

White-collar cases used to be isolated and very much on the margins. What you saw over the last four years was corruption cases moving from the fringes of corporate America to the very heart, including many Fortune 500 companies.