Well, no, guy.
It's knowing they didn't have a case. They bought wood that was illegally obtained. They did it twice after being warned the first time about it.
If they had a strong case, they'd have fought it.
They didn't. Nowhere near. They were as guilty as a cat in a canary cage.
OK, one more time for the slow kid:
If the fine is $500,000 and fighting it will cost $1,500,000, they will just pay the fine, even if they KNOW they will win the case!
Well, no, because they don't know if the Government is going to hit them again with the same charge a year from now, do they? And frankly, if htey already copped to it once, it's not like they'll have a leg to stand on if they are accussed of it again.
Also, kind of hard to buy that they knew EXACTLY what the litigation would cost before going to court or that they couldn't find a libertarian minded lawyer who would work pro-bono.
Here's the problem. Gibson whined for years about how the government singled them out, but the reality was the facts and the evidence weren't on their side, and they knew it.
They really did illegally obtain wood without the proper documentation.