system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
ELI5:How a person who commits horrendous acts against humanity, such as Albert Speer get 20 year sentence while illegally downloading documents, such as done by Aaron Swartz, holds a potential for 35 years ?

I saw two documentaries back to back. One on Aaron Swartz and then the Nuremberg trials. This confused me.
gpt
In most jurisdictions, the maximum penalty that can be issued by a court is much more severe than the typical penalty. The maximum penalty is usually reserved for only the most heinous of crimes or repeat offenders of serious crimes. 

Also, sometimes the maximum penalty is exaggerated because it reflects the maximum penalty of each charge put back-to-back consecutively (e.g. serving 5 years on one charge, then 3 years on another etc.). In reality, many jurisdictions allow for multiple sentences to be served concurrently so that someone like Aaron probably wouldn't have had to serve consecutive sentences for each individual violation.

In sum, it's highly unlikely that Aaron Swartz would have actually served (or even have been sentenced to) anywhere close to 35 years - if any prison time at all.

The other issue at play is that the maximum possible sentence for a given crime varies widely by jurisdiction. In many jurisdictions in the US, people can be sentenced to death for murder. In many other countries, however, the maximum penalty for a murder charge may be considerably less severe (e.g. 20 years).