The Judge who sentenced her plans to ask Naval Academy Superintendent Vice Adm. Jeffrey L. Fowler to show clemency. From the Capital-

A Naval Academy senior who was to receive her diploma and commission in four weeks was sentenced yesterday to 15 months in prison for theft and conduct unbecoming an officer.

Midshipman 1st Class Julia Kaelberer, of Rialto, Calif., pleaded guilty to two counts of lying to investigators and 26 specifications of theft. She faced up to 70 years in prison, but had reached a pretrial agreement setting the maximum sentence at 15 months of confinement and dismissal from the Navy, plus a dishonorable discharge.

Kaelberer never had a criminal record, but “cracked” under the stress of attending the Naval Academy, her family and friends testified.

In recent months, Kaelberer has been committed to Bethesda Naval Hospital’s psychiatric ward for attempted suicide, and has been incarcerated since April 10 in the brig in Norfolk, Va.

Kaelberer’s crimes include stealing keepsakes and valuables from fellow midshipmen in Bancroft Hall, the academy’s dormitory. She also attempted to defraud local merchants, including the Starbucks on Dock Street and the Giant Food store on Bay Ridge Road, by using a stolen credit card to purchase food and travel mugs. Other times, she tried to use a stolen card to purchase fast food and gasoline.

The thefts took place over several months, but culminated in a stealing spree on the weekend of Dec. 6, 2008, when Kaelberer was on guard duty and nearly all of the 4,200 members of the Brigade of Midshipman were in Philadelphia for the Army-Navy football game.

At that time, she went into several dorm rooms, where she stole a handmade quilt, a diamond pendant necklace, an Apple iTouch, a Playstation 3, a calculator, a Swiss watch and numerous other items. She gave a few items to her boyfriend, but threw most of them into her car or her room and ignored them.

There was no record of her attempting to sell any of the stolen goods.

Kaelberer has to be mentally disturbed. Her sister said she was depressed and the pressure of academy life had been too much. Maybe it was, I have a hard time being sympathetic. When I was stationed in Orlando, my living quarters were ransacked by a sailor in 1981 just for kicks. Burglary victims tend to feel violated because your personal belongings and living areas have been taken or damaged. That applies to at least some of the midshipmen Kaelberer victimized. I think she is getting off easy with only a fifteen month sentence and being kicked out of the Academy.