An Army soldier got his last bit of freedom yesterday before he was handcuffed and taken into custody for terrorizing his wife four years ago with a semiautomatic handgun.

Circuit Judge Michael Town ordered Ernie Gomez to start serving a five-year mandatory prison term, closing the latest chapter in a case that has angered people who believe Gomez should do the time and upset those who maintain the penalty is too harsh.

Until yesterday, Town had allowed Gomez to remain free on bail while he pursued an appeal of his 2005 conviction and, once the appeal was rejected last year, a pardon from Gov. Linda Lingle. When Lingle on Friday denied the pardon, Gomez's last hope for freedom was dashed.

His attorney, deputy public defender Taryn Tomasa, told the court that the case was never about her client trying to escape punishment. The case was about a mandatory sentence that isn't always in the best interests of society and a five-year term that was not appropriate for someone like Gomez, Tomasa added.

Except for that one offense in 2004, she said, Gomez has been a law-abiding citizen who has a distinguished, honors-laden military record, provides for his family and has been training soldiers preparing to go to war.

"That's what's unjust about this," Tomasa said.

Even Town previously said he would have been inclined to give Gomez a lesser sentence if the court had the discretion in such cases.

Using a semiautomatic handgun in the commission of a felony carries a mandatory five-year prison term under Hawai'i law. Gomez was convicted of terrorizing his then-wife with the weapon at their 'Ewa Beach home and hitting her multiple times while their 2-year-old daughter was nearby, crying and screaming.

People convicted of far more heinous crimes have served less than five years, Tomasa said after the hearing. She said she was disappointed in Lingle's decision, adding that one of the governor's options could have been to give a conditional pardon, requiring Gomez to serve a portion of the five years.

In the pardon-rejection letter, Barry Fukunaga, Lingle's chief of staff, said the governor determined a pardon would be inappropriate "at this time." No reason was cited.

Still, the letter provided some encouragement to Gomez, the judge said at yesterday's hearing.

"Although your application was denied, I do want to encourage you to continue in your efforts to improve your record of good behavior," Fukunaga wrote in the letter. "Perhaps sometime in the future your petition for a pardon will be looked upon with favor."

A Lingle spokesman said such language is "pretty much standard" in pardon-rejection letters.

Tomasa said Gomez may re-apply for a pardon in the future.

Gomez, dressed in a dark suit and tie, didn't address the court before being led away in handcuffs yesterday. The soldier, who now lives in New York and had been working at an Army post in New Jersey, likely will serve his time at Halawa Correctional Facility or a Mainland prison.