A former Canadian navy official, who had sold secrets to Russians for years and was sentenced to 20-years in prison last Friday, was officially stripped of his military rank and commission Wednesday.

Delisle, who will no longer be called Sub-Lieutenant Delisle, would forfeit his Canadian Forces Decoration, and his entitlement to severance pay, the Canadian Defence Ministry announced Wednesday. The federal government will also recover the salary paid to him since he was arrested in January 2012.

"Mr. Delisle's unauthorized disclosure of secret information is intolerable, inexcusable and inconsistent with the integrity and loyalty that Canadians expect from their men and women in uniform," Minister of National Defence Peter Mackay said in a statement.

The 41-year-old former naval officer was sentenced to 20 years in prison last week for passing secrets to the Russian agents while he was in charge of the intelligence secrets of the navy. He was given access to some of the most sensitive information in the Navy's intelligence and communications center.

"Last Friday's sentencing confirmed that Mr. Delisle not only violated Canadians' trust, but also broke our laws, and the Canadian Armed Forces undertook an immediate review to determine appropriate consequences to his actions," the defence minister said.

Delisle decided to go the Russian Embassy in Ottawa and sell secret information to agents in 2007. When he was arrested last year, he cited his intense marital woe to be a driving force for him to commit the "professional suicide."

 "Upon the recommendation of Genral Tom Lawson, Chief of the Defence Staff, His Excellency the Right Honourable David Johnston, Governor General and Commander-in-Chief of Canada, has approved the release of Jeffrey Paul Delisle from the Canadian Armed Forces and has revoked his commission."

"In addition, Mr. Delisle will forfeit his Canadian Forces Decoration, and his entitlement to severance pay," MacKay added.

The Chief Judge of the Provincial Court in Nova Scotia, Patrick Curran, while sentencing Delisle on February 8, referred to the officer as a traitor and dismissed Delisle's explanation that his action was because of his wife's infidelity. 

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