Onzadog
You have two people and a minor “crime”. You know one is guilty and one is innocent but you don’t know which is which.
Is it better to punish both knowing that you are punishing an innocent? Or should you allow them both to go unpunished knowing you’re letting the guilty party go free?
This is easy, the moral dilemma in this instance is not admitting the crime in one, and collaboration to conceal in the other, both culpable in terms of seeking recourse for the crime.
Leniency offered to the one that tells the truth, to not punish specifically for the appropriate deviation is to encourage further collaboration and a culture of guilty only if caught, education can only begin after one or both parties admit guilt.