He definitely got what he had coming. He knowingly broke the law and lied about it to cover it up which shows he had some incling of the consequences. he took a gamble and he got burned. As to the amount of the fine, it's public information, he should have known what he was getting into before he did it. If it's worth that much of a risk to him, then I'd say that $12K probably wasn't enough. It's all a matter of perspective; to some $12K is chump change so why not take the risk? There needs to be jail time associated with these violations.