A Florida judge sentenced former America West pilot Thomas Cloyd to five years in prison and co-pilot Christopher Hughes to two and a half years in prison Thursday for operating an aircraft while intoxicated.

"You're the classic example of a person who gets help when everything goes wrong," Judge David Young told Cloyd, citing his prior clashes with the law involving alcohol. "Frankly, sir, I have no sympathy and sentence you to five years in prison."

Young told Hughes he recognized he had no prior criminal record, but that he should be thankful that one day he will return to his wife and two children alive.

"You're very lucky that one day you will go home to your children," Young said. "If you didn't stop drinking, you wouldn't be allowed to see them, because you would die."

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Cloyd and Hughes were convicted of operating a plane while intoxicated on June 8, after a jury of six men deliberated for almost six hours over the course of two days.

Prosecutors called 18 witnesses during the seven-day trial to prove both men reported to work on July 1, 2002, at Miami International Airport after spending a night out drinking. Evidence showed the men left the bar only five hours before their scheduled flight.

Young said Thursday that he found their actions "absolutely outrageous," especially after the terror attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

"The first thing I could think of, Mr. Cloyd and Mr. Hughes, is, 'What were you thinking?'" Young said. "Less than a year after 9-11. Less than a year after this nation was changed forever."

In addition to the prison sentences, Young sentenced both men to probation, community service and a $5,000 fine.

Before the trial, both men offered to plead guilty in exchange for 14 months in prison, but Young rejected the deal.

Before the sentencing, defense attorneys called witnesses to speak on Cloyd and Hughes' behalf, but neither defendant addressed the court.

Cloyd's mother, Margaret Cloyd, told the judge she didn't deny her son made a mistake, but believed he was working through his problems and was ready to return to society.

"Tom has suffered tremendously in the last three years," she said. "I know a lot of good can come out of this."

Hughes' brother Michael and his wife Robin also asked Young to allow the co-pilot to return to his family.

"Christopher Hughes is a good man, a good man who deserves another chance to return to his family," Michael Hughes said. "He will walk through life with a criminal record and have to endure that stigma."

Hughes' wife, a flight attendant, said her husband wasn't a violent criminal, and begged the judge for compassion.

"Do you really think it'd be reasonable to put him away for a lengthy period of time with truly violent criminals?" she asked.

During the trial, jurors saw 49 pieces of evidence, including airport security camera footage, a $122 bar tab and surveillance clips from Mr. Moe's cantina in Coconut Grove, Fla.

Witnesses testified the defendants consumed about 28 pints of Sierra Nevada during a six-hour stay at Mr. Moe's cantina in Coconut Grove, Fla., before returning to the Mayfair Hotel at 5:30 a.m.

When the pilots arrived at the airport at 10 a.m. for work, screeners at a security checkpoint reported suspicions that both men were drunk. Screeners told jurors that Cloyd argued with workers and refused to throw away a cup of coffee he was carrying. Workers also testified that Hughes' luggage triggered alarms, prompting a subsequent search. During that search, they said, they could smell alcohol on his breath.

The pilots had almost reached the tarmac when the Transportation Security Administration stopped the flight to perform field sobriety tests, which both men failed. Cloyd and Hughes were taken to a police station, where they consented to a breathalyzer test at 1 p.m., yielding results of .091 and .084, respectively. Florida's legal limit is .08.

One prosecution expert suggested Cloyd's blood-alcohol level could have been as high as .15 and Hughes' as .137 when they first arrived at the airport.

The defense only called one witness to the stand, tug vehicle operator Franklin Tejada, who told jurors he was in "full control" of the vehicle that morning, not Cloyd and Hughes.

Defense attorneys did not dispute claims that their clients drank the night before, but doubted whether the impairment levels actually affected their ability to do their job.

Prosecutor Deisy Rodriguez said she was happy with the judge's sentence.

"The judge took the offense as seriously as we did," she said. "At the end of the day, he made an appropriate sentence that will send the message that this behavior is not appropriate."