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Well, I knew a guy who did some low-level dope dealing (marijuana) to support his own habit; he lived at home with his mother and didn't work, so he had to get the $$ for his own dope somehow. He had one bust for simple possession when he got busted again for dealing. In that time and place, the normal sentence for this was six to twelve months in the country jail. But _his_ prosecutor had other plans, and he got 3 to 5 in state prison.
He was out on bail when the sentence came down; and rather than report to prison when the time came, he left the state entirely. Settled down one state over, got a regular job and a wife who keeps him under _serious_ control, is an elder in his church, has raised two good kids, and so on.
But he can't come back to California. No statute of limitations; he was _convicted._
I treat him okay; after all, he did straighten out. And if he went away to jail now, it'd do the state no real good and some innocent people a lot of harm. But he _did_ do the crime, even if the penalty was harsher than normal. So if he did somehow come back and get caught, I'd feel bad, but I wouldn't call it an injustice.
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