Let's see what happens. He continued to step over the line because nobody stopped him. If the charges stick and he's imprisoned then it sends a message to people who would try the same thing. If nothing happens, then it sends a message that you can scam people with gusto because nothing will happen.
It's like how fines for companies are less than 10% of the profit they make each quarter. If you only got a 10 dollar fine for running someone over in your car and you make 30k each pay day, you wouldn't stop running people over.