As has already been mentioned, the 30 day suspension and item removal is a measure taken whilst it's being investigated. Until these investigations are completed and the findings made public, the punishment could be anything. For the serious offenders I wouldn't be surprised to see long term bans or character deletions.
Your analogy to real life is an interesting one, seeing as the deterrent to crime is a prison sentence - one could almost liken that to a suspension of game access...
If you're honestly this upset by it, I'd suggest either rolling onto a new server, stop overplaying how prolific this actually is, stop playing the game entirely or perhaps seek counseling.