Although the USA judicial system is not perfect, they are more prepared to hand out lengthy sentences.
We had a scumbag go to Kings Cross to intentionally king hit someone and he killed a young man. He got 4 years!!!
In the USA, the game "knockout" (king hit innocent victims) was spreading around the world and in the USA in particular. I heard on the radio where a young man king hit and killed an older person. He got 55 years prison.
How can sentences differ so much in a civilised society?
Had Bernie Madoff been an Australian, he probably would be due out of prison soon.