Oceanside

A judge sentenced an Oceanside couple to prison Monday for selling stolen military gear from Camp Pendleton, but he staggered the terms so one parent can take care of their two small children while the other is in jail.

U.S. District Judge Rudi Brewster in San Diego sentenced Donna Jean Holmes, 37, to two years in federal prison, but ordered that her term not begin until five days after her husband, Thomas Henry Holmes, 42, finishes his six-month sentence.

Donna Holmes pleaded guilty Sept. 23 to conspiracy to receive stolen military equipment from the Marine base and filing a false income tax return in connection with her surplus business, ABC Laundry and Surplus, in Oceanside.

Thomas Holmes pleaded guilty to conspiracy to receive stolen military gear in his Carlsbad store, Village Camping and Surplus. The couple and their three employees are among the last of more than 70 defendants sentenced in “Operation Rip-Stop,” a joint FBI-Internal Revenue Service investigation into thefts of U.S. military equipment.

“I feel sorry for the children,” Brewster said. “They’re going to suffer. But their parents did it to them. If it weren’t for the children, she’d be serving much more time.”

The Holmes children are 7 and 9 years old.

Brewster fined Donna Holmes $7,550 and her husband $5,050.

Donna Holmes’ attorney, Charles Sevilla, argued that she followed the business practices of the previous owner, Jerry Alexander Sr., 45, of Vista, who is awaiting sentencing Jan. 13 for similar violations.