[dragonwriter]

> Why would the FBI and prosecutors punish Patterson? The gave the FBI an opportunity for raids and prosecutions, and those look great on an annual review.

Why go after Patterson? Because that would give them opportunities for more raids and prosecutions, which look great on an annual review. And raids and prosecutions for acts which are probably more politically useful to politically-minded US Attorneys than whatever kind of case they could make against Shafer.

[a3n]

True. But given the choice between the two (and they clearly had this choice), I wonder if they consider that an individual will not be able to mount as strong a defense as a business.

[dragonwriter]

> But given the choice between the two (and they clearly had this choice)

That's less clear than it might seem; the information Patterson gave them may have been sufficient basis for probable cause against Shafer, but it was probably shaded (at least by omission) in a way that it did not do so against Patterson.

Now, obviously, one would hope that the FBI would do some meaningful additional investigation before conducting a raid, but there were very few people beside the person they'd been handed as a subject who would have been able to provide information which would have flipped this to something where Patterson would be the offending party (and even there, its for something which the FBI is neither the usual first investigating agency nor an agency that is particularly expert.)