According to CNET reports, the San Mateo County District Court has sentenced the two men involved in last year’s ‘lost iPhone 4 prototype’ episode to one year of probation each, and 40 hours of community service.

In addition, the two men – 22-year-old Brian Hogan of Redwood City; and 28-year-old Sage Wallower of Emeryville – have each been asked to make a restitution payment of $250 to Apple, for their role in the missing “priceless” handset.

On Monday, the two men – who had sold an iPhone 4 prototype left behind in a Redwood City bar to tech blog Gizmodo - had pleaded no contest to theft of lost property, a misdemeanor; and the prosecutors had urged Judge Stephen Hall to award a five-day jail sentence to both of them.

The Wednesday sentence marked the culmination of a probe which commenced after the iPhone 4 prototype was purchased by Gizmodo, which then leaked the details of the handset on its website, before the ever-so-secretive Apple could officially unveil the device.

Even though Gizmodo had clearly infuriated Apple by ripping off the smartphone, clicking its pictures, and reviewing the handset on its website, the website was spared prosecution in the case.

Meanwhile, revealing that with neither Hogan nor Wallower having any criminal record, and that the court proceedings were similar to those in a fairly routine theft case,” San Mateo County District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe said: “This was a couple of youthful people who should have known better”!