KUNSAN AIR BASE, South Korea — A seven-member jury sentenced an Air Force master sergeant Wednesday to six years in prison and a dishonorable discharge just hours after finding him guilty of raping a senior airman.

Master Sgt. Garron Merritt also will be reduced to the lowest military pay grade of E-1 and will forfeit all pay and allowances. The punitive discharge means that Merritt, with more than 21 years in the Air Force, also loses his retirement pay and benefits.

The jury found him guilty of rape, adultery and unlawful entry. They found him not guilty of forcible sodomy.

After hearing the verdict, Merritt made a brief unsworn statement to the court before the jury deliberated on the sentence.

He told the jurors he understood and accepted their decision but said, “Please take into consideration that I do have a family.”

Prosecutor Capt. Adam Cook asked the jury to send Merritt to jail for eight to 12 years. Merritt should spend considerable time behind bars for raping a senior airman who worked for him, Cook said.

“For her, this is a life sentence,” he said, pointing to the victim, who was watching the trial. “When he should have been leading her, he was lusting after her.”

Cook also argued during the court-martial that a dishonorable discharge was necessary, even if it meant the loss of retirement benefits.

“He betrayed everything this uniform stands for,” Cook said.

Defense attorney Capt. Chad Cowan told the jurors the defense team, including civilian attorney Charles W. Gittins, believed some sort of confinement was appropriate.

But, Cowan argued, giving Merritt a punitive discharge would be throwing away more than 20 good years in the Air Force — more than 7,900 days of active duty.

Merritt won’t be able to restart his life after serving a prison sentence, Cowan said. And he wouldn’t be able to provide for his wife and son.

“Is he going to shine shoes for a living?” Cowan asked of Merritt’s employment opportunities as a registered sex offender with a punitive military discharge.

About a dozen people were in the courtroom to hear the sentence.

The prosecution team, including Cook and Lt. Col. Vance Spath, declined to comment on the case. The victim and Merritt declined comment on the verdict or sentence.

Merritt had claimed the sex was consensual.

The maximum possible punishment Merritt faced was life in prison without parole, a dishonorable discharge, forfeiture of all pay and allowances and reduction to E-1.