Bet if he was on the dole, they would have left him alone. But since this guy was trying to make a profit, they needed to get their cut. Just so happened that they stumbled upon on of their mistakes, one that would be an embarrassment to them. Just imagine if people realized that rehabilitation is capable of happening without mandatory minimum sentences.
Heaven forbid that the system might appear ineffective or worse, unnecessary.

I agree, lesson learned. Let the man go, he has demonstrated that he is an asset to society and keeping him behind bars is only detrimental to society, only serving the purpose of government shock and awe.