ZD, not necessarily. There could be huge amounts of money involved, yet the law is subject to interpretation, or, like your example of 56 in a 55 zone, mere technicality not usually enforced.
Thanks for bringing this up; I wanted to respond to lesschumras on Rubashkin, which according to my understanding falls into this category. The bank knew what the business was making, and was not defrauded, except on a technical level.
He still shouldn’t have done it, but they were out to get him.
Please bargaining is not sheker; it’s striking a deal which benefits both sides. Nobody actually thinks you’re really admitting to that lesser crime. I heard of one case where R’ Chaim Kanievsky advised someone (who I think he assumed innocent) to accept a plea bargain to minimize the chillul Hashem which would have come out of a trial.
I was once pulled over for a violation, and the cop wrote three summonses for one violation.
It wasn’t near my home, but I was able to plead guilty by mail on one if they would drop the other. It’s doubtful that mine was a unique case, it seems to be standard procedure to trump up charges in order to get a guilty plea.