> Typically those look very different from an espionage act case [...] Often it looks more like some African American dude you've never heard of being wrongfully accused of a violent crime or drug offense on flimsy evidence.

I suppose? There's maybe some qualitative distinction to be made. But essentially I'd say that Assange was:

> railroaded by the criminal justice system, pressured to plead guilty and serve time.

Though time already served was factored into the sentencing. The pressure to plead guilty was the prospect of dying in solitary confinement.