After hours of charged testimony, the brevity and dispassion of a judge's sentence for Petty Officer 3rd Class Pablo Paredes left those in the courtroom slightly shocked yesterday.

Reduction to the lowest rank. Two months' restriction to the 32nd Street Naval Station. Three months of hard labor, but no jail time. Court adjourned.

A stunning blow to the prosecution. This is an affirmation of every sailor's and military person's right to speak out and follow their conscience.

Jeremy Warren Attorney for Victor Paredes

"I'm so confused," said Victor Paredes, who flew in from New Jersey to be with his son during the court-martial. "I don't know what it means."

It means, in part, that Paredes won't be jailed for refusing to board the amphibious assault ship Bonhomme Richard when it left San Diego for the Persian Gulf in December with 3,000 sailors and Marines. Paredes has maintained that the war in Iraq is unethical.

The base restriction and hard-labor time will be served concurrently. The Navy did not immediately specify what "hard labor" would entail.

Klant's ruling fell short of the prosecution's recommendation of nine months' confinement, a bad-conduct discharge, reduction to seaman recruit and forfeiture of pay and benefits.

The lead prosecutor, Lt. Brandon Hale, had implored Klant to hand out a stiff sentence, saying it would dissuade other sailors who might follow Paredes' lead and opt out of supporting the war for arbitrary reasons.

"(Thousands of) families want to know what is going to happen to this guy who didn't go with us," Hale said. "Sailors all over the world want to know whether this will be tolerated."

Paredes "attempted to cripple the Navy," Hale added. He described the petty officer's actions as particularly grievous because Paredes, a sailor who refused to fulfill his duty, stole the spotlight from thousands of service members who did.

Paredes had urged the media to cover his refusal to board the Bonhomme Richard on Dec. 6 and has appeared at several anti-war gatherings since then.

Yesterday, before the sentencing, Paredes spoke to the court about his decision not to go to the Middle East.

"I believe as a member of the armed forces that, beyond having a duty to my chain of command and my president, I have a higher duty to my conscience and to the supreme law of the land," he said. "I feel in my mind and heart that this war is illegal and immoral."

Klant seemed to accept Hale's argument. He sharply questioned defense attorney Jeremy Warren during his closing statement for the sentencing phase and had the lawyer backpedaling several times.

The judge described Paredes' refusal to board the ship "a sort of tantrum that this court sees too much." He also referred to Paredes as self-serving and selfish.

Klant said he could understand Paredes acting on his dislike for the war, "but not the type of action he took."

But once the sentence was read, it was Warren who smiled.

He called the decision "a stunning blow to the prosecution. This is an affirmation of every sailor's and military person's right to speak out and follow their conscience."

Hale had no comment after Klant's sentencing.

Navy spokesman Sam Samuelson said the guilty verdict sends a message that the Navy is intent on maintaining discipline in the ranks.

© Copyright 2005 Union-Tribune Publishing Co.

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