Do they agree that they committed the crime or are they just making a tradeoff of a definite 5 years vs. a probable 25 years or something similar due to plea bargains?
From what I am reading, especially in drug cases this the tradeoff a lot of people are making. Add to this being poor and lacking legal education this is a rational choice.
That's what I'm wondering, is there a way to measure how common this situation is? I'd be curious to see