Marine sentenced for bilking money

SAN DIEGO -- A Marine Corps major was sentenced to five years in military prison for plotting to use credit cards to steal $400,000 from the government.

Maj. Darryl Phillips was also dismissed from the Corps on Friday and fined $400,000 after being convicted by a military jury a day earlier.

Phillips had faced up to 60 years in prison, and his sentence was less than the 15-year minimum sought by Marine Corps prosecutors. But the 10-member jury of officers at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar effectively stripped Phillips, a former supply officer, of his retirement pay and benefits after a 22-year career.