A federal judge repeatedly sounded skeptical that mass firings of probationary federal workers were made by the government because the employees couldn’t do their jobs.

Less than two months after their office romance ended, Ahmad Kazzelbach began tampering with the email and social media accounts of the Baltimore woman who broke up with him. U.S. District Judge James Bredar said Kazzelbach repeatedly lied to police and court officials to essentially wage war against his ex-girlfriend. The judge departed from sentencing guidelines that called for a lighter prison sentence ranging from 30 to 37 months. Kazzelbach, whose attorney requested a one-year prison sentence, apologized to his ex-girlfriend during the hearing. The judge said he would recommend that Kazzelbach serve his sentence at a low-security prison in Danbury, Connecticut.