An Irvine man pleaded guilty Monday to a child-abuse charge for throwing his young son from a Newport Beach harbor boat, but avoided jail time under a sentencing deal. 
 
 Sloane Steven Briles, 35, was sentenced instead to one year in a child-abusers treatment program and 180 days in a residential alcohol-treatment program run by the Department of Veterans Affairs. He was also put on three years of formal probation. 
 
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 Prosecutors argued unsuccessfully that he should serve time in jail. He had faced a maximum sentence of six years behind bars. 
 
 "What he admitted is that he did something that put his son at great risk while he was intoxicated," said his attorney, Brian Gurwitz. He described the judge's sentencing offer in exchange for a guilty plea as "very appropriate." 
 
 Briles was under the influence of alcohol during a harbor cruise in August and threw his son into the water when they boy refused to stop crying, prosecutors said. Another boat had to maneuver to avoid striking the boy, who treaded water before the captain on another boat tossed him a life ring, according to the District Attorney's Office. 
 
 Prosecutors said Briles made no attempt to save his son and jumped into the water only to avoid angry passengers. He was pulled back on board but later struggled with deputies and went limp when they tried to remove him from the boat, prosecutors said. 
 
 Briles later told television reporters that he and his son were playing around and decided to jump into the harbor for fun. He told reporters that his son is a good swimmer. 
 
 He pleaded guilty Monday to one felony charge of child abuse and endangerment, and one misdemeanor charge of resisting an officer, court records show. 
 
 A special Orange County court set up to help military veterans considered taking Briles case, but declined and sent him back to criminal court after an assessment. A Facebook page that appears to belong to Briles says he served as a sergeant in the U.S. Marine Corps between 1995 and 2000. 
 
 The latest post on the page, from mid-November, says he was coming up on 60 days of sobriety after a Veterans Affairs treatment program – "so u can call me 'sobie-wan-kenobi.'" 
 
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 Contact the writer: 714-704-3777 or dirving@ocregister.com 
 
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 A father who threw his 7-year-old son off a harbor cruise boat into Newport Harbor was convicted Monday of felony child abuse and a misdemeanor count of resisting an officer. 
 
 Sloan Briles, 35, pleaded guilty to throwing his son into the busy harbor waters on Aug. 28, an incident that drew widespread media attention. 
 
 The father, a former Marine, was sentenced to three years of probation, 180 days in a Veterans Administration residential treatment program and one year in a child abusers treatment program. 
 
 If Briles does not complete the residential treatment program, he could be sentenced to jail. 
 
 Cyril Yu, a deputy district attorney, said he was satisfied with the guilty plea, but believed jail time would have been appropriate. 
 
 "Certainly, he was cognizant of what took place," Yu said. 
 
 Judge Robert Fitzgerald was stern with Briles and seemed skeptical that he would actually complete the court-ordered treatment. During sentencing, the judge said he recalled reading "this silliness in the newspaper." 
 
 Briles was heavily intoxicated at the time of the incident and his lawyer, Brian Gurwitz, said his client was hospitalized due to alcohol withdrawl for two days after his arrest. 
 
 Gurwitz said he was satisfied with the plea. "It's an offer that allows Mr. Briles to get his life back on track," he said, adding that Briles has been sober for 90 days.
– A drunk ex-Marine who hurled his 7-year-old son into a busy harbor during a California sightseeing cruise has been sentenced to 180 days in a residential treatment facility for alcoholism. Sloan Briles, 35, who pleaded guilty to felony child abuse, will also have to attend a year of child abuse treatment and will serve three years probation. Prosecutors had sought jail time, and he faced a possible six years behind bars. Briles was on the cruise with his girlfriend and two young sons when he poked and repeatedly slapped one of his boys in the face. When the boy cried and told his dad to stop hurting him, Briles hoisted his son up over the ship rail and heaved him into Orange County's busy Newport Harbor, reports the Los Angeles Times. "There were lots of other boats in the water," said a spokeswoman for the district attorney. The vessel maneuvered to try to block other boats from hitting the boy, and one craft had to veer sharply to avoid striking him. The cruise's pilot tossed him a life-saving ring while another boat fished him out. Briles, who was drunk at the time, leaped into the water to escape furious passengers, reports the Orange County Register. He said after his arrest that he and his son were just horsing around.