Regardless of how little or how much he had, he still broke the law. It is not uncommon for an arrest to be made based on that amount. It isn't a Barney Fife mentality to arrest someone for breaking the law.

As for the station's continued pursuit of this story, the man broke the law when he was a public official so the public has a right to be made aware of what is going on and it is the job of the news station to report it. As far as the continued humiliation, I feel for the man, but he brought on himself when he broke the law.