U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder has defended the role of the prosecution in the case of the late Internet activist and innovator Aaron Swartz, stating that “there was never an intention for him to go to jail for longer than a three, four, potentially five-month range.”

“That was what the government said specifically to Mr. Swartz,” Holder told Senator John Cornyn, during an appearance before the Senate Committee on the Judiciary on Wednesday.

The plea offers made to Swartz were rejected, he added. In a plea offer, prosecutors usually agree to ask the court for a lighter sentence in return for a guilty plea.

Swartz, who committed suicide in January, was charged with wire fraud, computer fraud and other crimes for allegedly accessing and downloading over 4 million articles from the JSTOR online database through the network of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

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