Jail sentences are not speed limits. The maximums are set high so that a judge determining sentencing has flexibility in extreme cases, not because they expect most sentences to actually be that high. Yes, he could've gotten more than 35 years if they threw the book at him on every count, but he also could've gotten the minimum sentence, which everyone completely ignores. I don't know what the minimum sentences are for the crimes in question off the top of my head, but I wouldn't be surprised if they were very light. If anyone feels like doing the legwork on that, I'd love to have some definite numbers to throw around.