I cannot get my head around the idea of JS being totally innocent. So I never advocate for that.
(I care very much about the unthinkable wrongs that JVP, Curley, Schultz, and Spanier had to endure, so that's when I do my little part to help raise awareness of the right and wrong wrt them. Sometimes, those sides to the saga intersect).
But I do believe his trial was a sham, and he deserves a new trial. I do believe that a new trial with competent representation would reduce the number of guilty counts, however many that may be (see below). That in turn would reduce his sentence by some degree or another, and he could be released with time served. The PR fallout from that for PA State officials from a variety of offices will preclude that from ever happening. Doesn't mean he has not served an appropriate time by now. I don't know.
So, while I think it's moot, in the perfect world....
A new trial would expose the blatant lies and fabricated stories that were delivered by non-victims who received payouts, as aided and abetted by their attorney(s), that comprised a good number of those guilty counts. OGBOT leaders admitted that many of the payouts were made without vetting the stories, and knew they were most likely fabricated. That thar was some high-falutin' fidcuiaryin' goin' on there by the men and women running the show.
For those who are not aware, a thought-provoking discussion and set of interviews on this can be found on the podcast "With the Benefit of Hindsight", featuring John Ziegler (love him or hate him, he makes you think if you can keep an open mind). The interviews with Spanier and with Schultz are terrific, and both men showed a lot of courage to sit though those lengthy talks.
Other episodes are interesting when it comes to the BOT and the attorneys, among other aspects of the story. Episode 14, for example, is an interview with a Second Mile kid who was skeptical of the entire saga from the beginning. He is the person who posed as a victim with a made-up story and took it to the primary attorney for the victims, Andrew Shubin. He does quite the job of exposing the ease with which claims were made up and presented as truth and backed by 'experts' who ultimately made some, or a lot, of money that flew out of PSU's accounts and into their personal accounts with the ease of a bare butt ride on a greased slip'n'slide heading downhill. That was
our money - via taxes, tuition, donations - at one time, and we had other ideas in mind for PSU to use it.
Anyway, if interested in taking the time to listen, the podcasts are still available on Spotify (and probably others too). There are a lot of episodes, and some are quite long, but the overall makes a lot of points that will give most everyone pause. Here's a link to that Episode 14:
Episode 14