BIRMINGHAM, Alabama - A federal judge this afternoon sentenced former Birmingham police officer Corey Hooper to five years probation, including six months home detention, for his conviction last fall on an excessive force charge related to hitting a handcuffed man in the backseat of a patrol car in 2007.

A federal prosecutor said after the hearing that prosecutors will review the sentence for a possible appeal of the sentence. The prosecutor had suggested more than seven years in prison.

U.S. District Court Judge Inge Johnson also ordered that during probation Hooper is not to get into any new debt so he can repay a civil lawsuit judgment against him to Martez Gulley, the man he was charged with hitting. Hooper also can't get a job in law enforcement or security and must participate in an anger management program, she said.

"I think you snapped that day. You're not allowed to snap," Johnson said. "So I want you to get some treatment."

"Your conduct was inexcusable. You shouldn't have beaten a man with his hands handcuffed behind his back," the judge said.

Everett Wess, who along with Emory Anthony were Hooper's defense attorneys , told the judge that Hooper had already suffered with the loss of his job. Wess said after the hearing that they were pleased with the sentence and that the judge was correct in her assessment of what happened that day.

"It was a one-time situation where he snapped," Wess said.

Hooper apologized to Johnson. "I take responsibility for my actions... I've never been in a situation like this," he said.

Hooper told the judge that he has three children, including a special needs son, who depend on him. "This will never happen again. I'll never be in a position for something like this ever happening again," he said.

Hooper's wife, a pastor, and his mother made pleas to the judge for mercy. Hooper's mother, Angela Hubbard, called her son a sweet spirit who was called to the ministry.

Johnson said today was the first time in the 35 years she has been a judge _ including her time as a state circuit court judge _ that she has had to sentence a police officer.

She said in fashioning Hooper's sentence, she considered a number of factors. She noted Hooper's life of service in the community, including as a minister. Hooper also was a decorated officer with a number of local and state awards. Hooper in 2003 was recognized by the Alabama Attorney General's office for saving residents by catching them as they jumped off their second and third floor balconies to escape an apartment fire in September 2002.

Johnson also noted the time between the incident and Hooper's indictment last year. "Justice has not been swift," she said.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Pat Meadows told the judge that the U.S. Attorneys Office did not find out about the allegations until the civil suit filed by Gulley against Hooper was underway. He objected to the sentence because he said the judge varied greatly from the sentencing guidelines.

In a sentencing memorandum filed last week, Meadows had recommended a sentence of more than seven years in prison based on sentencing guidelines.

"We're disappointed with the sentence," Meadows said after the hearing. He said prosecutors will review it for a possible appeal.

U.S. Attorneys Offices must get permission from the U.S. Solicitor General in order to appeal a sentence handed down by a judge.

"Most police officers honor their oaths, day in and day out, to uphold the law and protect the public, but this defendant disgraced his badge and harmed a person he was sworn to protect," said Joyce White Vance, U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Alabama. "Although the government vigorously pursued a prison sentence, the defendant can no longer abuse his power as a police officer."

"I thank the FBI for its hard work investigating and compiling evidence in this case. My office remains committed to aggressive civil rights enforcement."

A federal jury on Oct. 3 found Hooper guilty of using excessive force for hitting Gulley, who was handcuffed in the back of a patrol car in the 2007 incident. But Hooper was found not guilty of a second charge of using excessive force in the use of a stun gun against another man in a separate 2007 incident.

Hooper had testified that he was riding with another police officer when a van almost struck them.

The male driver and a woman driver jumped out of the van, later determined to be stolen, after it came to a stop a short distance from where it almost struck the officers. The male driver, Gulley, and a woman passenger jumped out and ran.

Both Gulley and the woman were caught by other officers and brought back to the scene in separate patrol cars. It was after Gulley was brought back to the scene that the incident occurred.

Hooper had testified that before he struck him, he had told Gulley that he had almost killed him and the other officer with the van. He said Gulley replied that he wished he had killed them and then kicked at him.

Gulley had won a $75,000 verdict in 2011 against Hooper in a civil lawsuit stemming from the incident. Hooper recently won a lawsuit filed against him by another man in an unrelated incident.