First, we should keep the guy's family in our thoughts and prayers. No parent, no matter what their child did, should not have to experience having to bury their child. I don't even favor the death penalty.
At the same time, I am in no way going to defend what Mr. Swartz did, nor the response given to his choice to end his life. 35 years is not an easy sentence, but there are thousands sitting in a jail cell for doing far less, and who get far less attention for it. 35 years is not the result of a single charge, it's the result of multiple charges compounded. He was facing multiple counts, and had not even had his trial yet. He may have not been found guilty on some of them, and then wouldn't have even faced the maximum. He was in plea negotiations, in which I believe the Massachusetts D.A was offering him a deal that would have netted him only 6 months in jail. MIT, the plaintiff in the case, was against the deal, which is their right as the victim of the alleged crime, so even if someone is angry about what happened to Mr. Swartz it should be anger at MIT for blocking the plea deal, not at the commission behind sentencing guidelines.
Each count only totaled a few months to a few years. When you're accused of dozens of counts of the same crime, eventually they stack up to a lot of time. He hacked MIT's computers, accessed and downloaded millions of files. He should have known at the time he was doing it what he would be facing if he got caught. He is not the first person to face charges on illegally hacking a computer. He could have easily found out what would happen, and everyone knows that hacking is a crime. You don't get to cry foul after-the-fact. It is a tragedy for Mr. Swartz's family that he took his own life. Even if convicted for the crime (which I have not heard any assertions he did not commit) he would have been out probably before he turned fifty due to good behavior if he kept out of trouble behind bars. He wouldn't have served in a maximum security facility, so he wouldn't have been with the murderers and gang-bangers that most think of when they think of prison. He could have done his time, got out, and gone on with his life after that. His fate is a tragedy. The response to that tragedy by the likes of Anonymous is nothing but cowardly, opportunistic, showboating, in an attempt to get people to pay attention to them by way of exploiting this young man's death. It is disgusting, and I hope they rot in prison for it.