I always laugh my head off whenever I hear that someone was sentenced to 120 years in prison in the US...do they actually leave the skeletons in the cells for 120 years?
Yeah, and sometimes the sentences are even shortened, even ones longer than that, depending on the prisoner's behavior. Heck, even life sentences aren't always a guarantee.
What Darky said. I once worked for a dude who was sentenced to over 200 years for brutally raping his daughter. All except for 80 years were commuted. It sounds ridiculous and it kind of is, but at least he'll be dying there.