Rehab for drunk father who threw 7-year-old son off boat

A father who threw his 7-year-old son off a cruise boat into Newport Harbor is scheduled to report to a residential rehab program by the end of the week.

Sloan Briles, 35, and 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

He pleaded guilty Monday to throwing his son into the busy harbor waters Aug. 28.

If he does not complete the inpatient program, a warrant will be issued and he will have to serve six months in Orange County Jail; he would not receive credit for any days completed in treatment.

"It's an all-or-nothing deal," said Deputy Dist. Atty. Cyril Yu, who 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.

Orange County Superior Court Judge Robert Fitzgerald was stern with Briles and voiced skepticism about whether he would be able to complete the court-ordered treatment. During sentencing, Fitzgerald said he recalled reading about "this silliness in the newspaper."

Briles was heavily intoxicated at the time of the incident; and his lawyer, Brian Gurwitz, said Briles was hospitalized for alcohol withdrawal for two days after his arrest.

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Photo: Sloan Briles, left, was sentenced to 180 days in a Veterans Administration residential treatment program after pleading guilty to throwing his son off a harbor cruise boat. (Al Seib, Los Angeles Times / January 9, 2012)