San Diego

A 25-year-old man who apologized for letting his family down but not his country was sentenced Monday to two years in prison on charges related to the theft of classified Navy code cards.

Dale Irene, the second of four defendants in the case to be sentenced, had pleaded guilty earlier to two misdemeanor counts of receiving stolen government property.

U.S. District Judge Earl Gilliam, ignoring pleas for leniency by the defense, sentenced Irene to the maximum term possible under the plea bargain arrangement. Irene was taken into custody immediately after the hearing.

Defense attorney Jerry Leahy had argued for straight probation, saying his client was remorseful.

Irene, in a statement to the judge, said: “I did show very poor judgment. I don’t know why I took the cards. I let my family down. I’m just sorry.”

But Assistant U.S. Atty Joan Weber said, “I heard him say he let his family down and his friends down, but I didn’t hear him say he was sorry he let the country down.”

Irene, a San Diego resident, was charged with Petty Officer 3rd Class Michael Tobias, Tobias’ younger brother, Bruce, and Francis Xavier Pizzo in a scheme involving the theft and attempted sale of cryptographic cards last year.

The cards were stolen from the USS Peoria. Michael Tobias was a crewman on the ship and had the daily responsibility of shredding the cards, which are used in the Navy’s worldwide communication network and contain information on the location and movement of U.S. and foreign vessels.

Prosecutors said the four were involved in a scheme to try to blackmail the Secret Service into buying the cards back by claiming a foreign power had offered $100,000 for the information. It was never said which foreign country made the offer.

Michael Tobias is awaiting a Nov. 11 sentencing after his conviction on four counts of conspiracy and three counts of theft of government property. Pizzo, named in five counts of the original indictment, pleaded guilty last month and faces an Oct. 3 sentencing.

The younger Tobias, who prosecutors said was dragged into the affair by his love for his brother, was placed on five years probation during an Aug. 19 hearing.