Deserter Pablo Paredes Sentenced

(San Diego, California) Pablo Paredes, who refused to deploy on the USS Bonhomme Richard on December 6, 2004, was convicted and sentenced this past week. According to this report:

A Navy judge in San Diego, California on Thursday sentenced Pablo Paredes, a 23-year-old US Navy sailor, to three months of hard labor for refusing to board a military ship headed to Iraq last December. The judge also demoted Paredes, who was convicted Wednesday of "missing movement" with his unit, from petty officer third class to seaman recruit, the lowest rank in the Navy, which reduces his pay.

The sentence handed down by Navy Lieutenant Commander Robert Klant was not as harsh as the maximum penalty Paredes could have received: one year in prison, a bad conduct discharge and the loss of two-thirds of his pay. Paredes' attorney, Jeremy Warren, said he was pleased with the lesser sentence.

So, he gets demoted from E-4 to E-1, gets sent to the brig for three months of hard labor, and, apparently, continues on as a sailor until his obligation is satisfied. The sentence handed down seems to be giving Paredes the chance to redeem himself by completing all his obligations and getting an Honorable Discharge. It doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me. Paredes deserted, wants out of the military, and even joined up and protested with anti-military elements in society. Why keep him in?