SAN DIEGO -- Navy Lt. Cmdr. Syneeda Penland is being stripped of her rank and her rights.

"Just to be denied my right to continue serving my country is depressing," she said.

She's facing a dishonorable discharge from the Navy after nearly 20 years of service.

"How I came to be prosecuted is a travesty, it's an injustice," she explained.

Her crime centers on adultery, a violation of the military code of conduct. It is an offense her superiors felt warranted a court martial. She was also charged with conduct unbecoming an officer.

Attorney Joseph Cases is handling an appeal of Penland's conviction in military court.

"It's exhibit 'A' that sexual discrimination still exists in the military," he said.

While Penland, a supply officer for Naval Outlying Field in Imperial Beach, faced a court martial, the man she was accused of having the affair with, Lt. JG Mark Wiggan, did not.

Wiggan had filed for divorce and said he was separated from his wife, a Navy chief, before the charges were filed against Penland. He and Penland were friends but both denied a sexual relationship.

According to court-martial documents, when Wiggan was asked on the stand, "Have you ever had sexual intercourse with Lt. Cmdr Penland?" he responded, "No."

"He was offered immunity and he denied it," Penland said.

The prosecution's case hinged on personal sex pictures that were revealing close-ups. None of the pictures showed two clear faces.

Penland said they depict another man.

"The photographs that the government used in my court-martial were actually pictures that I had taken with a previous boyfriend."

The nude photos were given to the Navy by the jilted wife. She testified that she found the pictures on her husband's computer and copied them onto a hard drive.

Penland explained that the pictures were accidentally downloaded by Wiggan after Penland let him borrow her camera. She didn't realize that she still had personal photos on the memory stick.

Wiggan's wife testified in the court-martial that she recognized parts of her husband's body in pictures with Penland. Wiggan's wife also said that Penland harassed her as she worked on the USS Mobile Bay through phone calls, visits and by sending nude pictures of Wiggan by e-mail.

Wiggan himself, on the stand, wavered over the pictures. The prosecutor asked, "Is that you or is that not you?"

"I don't know. I took some pictures with my wife. I'm not too sure," Wiggan answered.

Penland was fined $9,000 and spent two months in the brig.

"I think it was blatant reprisal," she said.

She said while working as a supply officer she questioned how her command was handing millions of dollars in defense contracts. She filed a fraud, waste and abuse complaint with the Navy Inspector General after she was accused of the affair but before her command referred her to a court martial.

"I think [the complaint] is what prompted the commanding officer to want to refer it to a court martial," she said.

She accused her command of allowing civilians to work on sensitive Navy projects, for misusing war funds and hiring a contractor to perform personal services. Those complaints were upheld. A list of other allegations against several officers and practices was not substantiated, including Penland's claim of reprisal.

She's scheduled to be separated from the Navy on July 31. Her conviction in military court leaves her with a felony on her civilian record and she's also losing her retirement and health benefits.

"Not only am I wearing the scarlet letter," she said, "but they've ruined my life; not just my career but my life."

The Navy said Wiggan and Penland faced different discipline in this case because they were from different commands and commanders have discretion.

The Navy said it's very rare for a person to be prosecuted for adultery alone. In this case, the Navy maintained that Penland abused her rank and harassed the wife on government time and on Navy property.