A different view on state-federal sentencing disparity

As discussed in this prior post, some defendants post-Booker are seeking reduced federal sentences by highlighting that they would have received much lower sentences if prosecuted for their crimes in state court.  But this story from Hawaii, entitled "State far outpaces feds in embezzling sentence," provides a different perspective on the issue of state-federal sentencing disparity. Here are the lead paragraphs:

"Never steal anything small," James Cagney's immoral character croons in the opening credits of the 1959 musical of the same name. The case of a convicted criminal from Pearl City seems to back him up.

Dennis H. Hieda, who once wrote to a judge that he always thought "money was power and a way of having friends," was sentenced yesterday to 10 years in state prison for embezzling $24,000.  The sentence was four times longer than the 2 1/2 years in federal prison that he received last month for embezzling more than $500,000.