OMAHA, Neb. - Two things made Christopher Willever's drunken theft of a Tobacco Hut even worse as he crawled across the store floor, a lousy belt and his camera-loving backside.

Omaha's bare-bottom bandit was sentenced to three to five years in prison Friday for his March crime that earned him the fitting distinction.

"You were an ass in every true sense of the word in this crime," Douglas County District Judge Thomas Otepka told the 22-year-old Willever.

Tired of being poor, Willever drank a fifth of rum and decided to rob the store, said his public defender, Kelly Steenbock.

He was drunk enough not to realize that his pants had fallen down, exposing his bottom to cameras that eventually fed the surveillance to TV shows across the country.

"He was pretty humiliated and embarrassed," Steenbock said. "He showed his bottom to whoever turned on the TV."

Steenbock pleaded the judge to sympathize with Willever's youth, no prior felony charges and participation in an alcohol treatment program.

Otepka said Willever was an adult who is still supported by his mother and does not have a high school diploma. He also said Willever denied encounters with out-of-state authorities until presented with the cases.

Willever was arrested again later in the year for receiving stolen property from another burglary, while still facing charges in the bottom-baring case.

Willever could be eligible for parole after 18 months; he must also pay US$1,100 in restitution to the store.