Lol, yeah that was one stupid mistake.
But still, to get life in prison for a crime like that is pretty abhorrent in my opinion.
The FBI made an example out of him. And also, it should be remembered that the judge (Kathleen Forrest) gave him a sentence which was even harsher than the one which was requested by the prosecution. And immediately afterwards,
Kathleen Forrest began prosecuting people who commented against her on a blog site, regarding the sentence given to Ross.