I'm glad we're getting our money's worth

This is the story of an artist named Steve Kurtz (the article says he's pretty famous, but I've never heard of him) and government run amok (emphasis mine):

Kurtz’s legal nightmare began when he was arrested in May 2004 after he called 911 due to the unexpected death of his wife, Hope. The police notified the FBI because they saw commonly used biological equipment, such as petri dishes and test tubes, in his house.
...

Suspicious of bioterrorism, the FBI arrested Kurtz and searched his house. It was quickly confirmed that Hope had died of natural causes. Weeks later the New York State Commissioner of Public Health determined that the biological materials posed no public health risks. Eventually, charges of bioterrorism were dropped completely. But instead of dropping the case, the prosecution decided to pursue it. Millions of tax dollars and approaching four years later, the prosecution is now charging Kurtz with mail and wire fraud for a transaction worth less than $300.

For the love of all that is holy and great in this world, please someone, explain to me who comes out the winner here? It's not Kurtz and it sure as hell isn't the tax payer. If I find out that the prosecutor was someone looking to finish out his twenty years and collect his taxpayer funded pension my head is going to explode. This is literally a federal case, over a transaction valued at less than $300. Ridiculous.

The whole article is here