Because the law rarely gets exercised and when it does the punishment is negligible, so I doubt it even factored into his decision. He's probably as surprised as anyone this happened.
Indeed. This was one occasion in which he was caught, but what's the chance he's already done it in other situations? Was this the first time he was privvy to market-sensitive information? Unlikely.
> The complaint alleges that Bechtolsheim "knew or was reckless in not knowing" that the information he was given was non-public
There is a (small) possibility that he really didn't know (the second part of the complaint), but decided it's not worth a fight with the SEC cause it's such a small amount to him (and he has no interest in serving as an officer of a public company in the next few years anyway).
Though, the version others have said is still more probable: Reach people wanna get more rich, no matter the method.
