His price for not admitting felony guilt was to face 13 felony counts and a potential of 35+ years in jail at trial. That's unconscionable.

To be fair it's doubtful that most of that would have actually held up in court. That woman who bullied that 13-year-old to committing suicide a couple of years ago was similarly charged under a very broad interpretation of wire fraud and was only ultimately convicted of a misdemeanor.

Though he gets bankrupted from legal costs either way for sure

That's extortion.

I think they call it 'plea bargaining' now for some reason.