get (someone) off (something)

get off lightly

phrase(or let someone off lightly)
to be punished or to punish someone less severely than might have been expected:
I think he got off quite lightly considering it's his third driving offence.
Judges were forced to give harsher punishments to criminals who many believed were getting off lightly.
We shouldn't let the people who caused this damage off lightly.
If he had pleaded guilty from the start, he would have been let off more lightly.
It was racist abuse, and I think the governing body let him off too lightly.
See also