A more ethical group of prosecutors than we have (recruited, perhaps, among the sea pirates, slave traders, and drug kingpins of the world?), wouldn't make speculative statements about sentencing at all, much less to the media.
Because obviously allowing the media to make speculative statements with are completely unfounded is much better than at least tempering with fact. OK.
"Facts" don't miraculously appear out of prosecutors' asses. Prosecutors are not uninterested parties in trials, and if you really cared about the veracity of media reports you would encourage the media to do its own reporting rather than lap up press releases.
