Navy spy who sold secrets to Russia stripped of rank, pay

Sub-Lt. Jeffrey Paul Delisle is escorted by sheriffs from Nova Scotia provincial court after being sentenced to 20 years in prison, in Halifax on Friday, Feb. 8, 2013. (Andrew Vaughan / THE CANADIAN PRESS)

OTTAWA - Former naval officer Jeffrey Delisle, who spied for the Russians, has been stripped of his commission and his military service decorations.

National Defence also announced the former intelligence officer will forfeit his severance pay, and the federal government will move immediately to recover the salary paid to him since his arrest in January 2012.

Defence Minister Peter MacKay says the actions of Delisle, a former sub-lieutenant, are intolerable and inexcusable.

Last week, Delisle was sentenced to 20 years in prison after pleading guilty to charges under security-of-information laws for passing top secret information to the Russians over a five-year period.

It's the second time in just over two years that the Governor General has been asked to revoke the commission of a serving officer.

Russell Williams was stripped of his rank of colonel in October 2010 after being sentenced to two terms of life in prison, with no chance of parole for 25 years, for the first-degree murders of Cpl. Marie-France Comeau and Jessica Lloyd.