A federal judge in Brooklyn yesterday spared a young Middle East expert from prison after he admitted smuggling ancient artifacts looted from Iraq’s national museum into Kennedy Airport and deceiving customs officials.

Joseph Braude, 30, who wrote a book about reconstructing Iraq, was caught in June 2003 with three Mesopotamianera alabaster and marble cylinder seals as he was returning from Iraq. He had faced up to 16 months in federal prison.

But United States District Judge Allyne Ross yesterday gave Braude two years probation – including six months home detention – after agreeing with defense lawyers that his behavior represented a “marked deviation from an otherwise law-abiding life” and warranted leniency under federal sentencing guidelines.

“This is an exceptional case,” Judge Ross said. In August, on the second day of his criminal trial, Braude entered a surprise guilty plea to smuggling and false statement charges. Yesterday, he told Judge Ross that he stood before her a “scarred” person.

“I made a serious mistake which I deeply regret,” he said. “My violation of the law has brought pain and hardship to everyone who cares about me.”

Braude, who speaks several languages including Arabic and Farsi, studied at Yale and Princeton and has appeared on news programs as an Iraq expert. He insisted his “sole purpose” in buying the artifacts on Baghdad’s black market was to safeguard them. He said he planned to turn the seals over to trusted authorities.