The three men were arrested last Thursday a few kilometres (miles) from the coast near the village of Wimereux in northern France after a tip-off from
British authorities, local newspaper la Voix du Nord reported.
The retired naval captain, Ronald Scott, was sentenced to 30 months and given a 10-year ban from French territory on Monday, while the other two were
given sentences of one and two years respectively, the local prosecutors' office in Boulogne-sur-Mer told AFP.
Each migrant had paid 9,000 euros ($10,500) for the short trip from the French coast to Britain, the prosecutor said.
France's northern coast remains a magnet for migrants looking to cross the Channel, with police and the coast guard fighting a constant battle against people smugglers.
It's not the first time British people smugglers have bee jailed in France for attempting to ferry migrants across the Channel.
In July 2017 a French court jailed two Britons for over two years for having smuggled migrants to England in a light aircraft in what prosecutors said was a first.
Pilot David Green, 54, and his accomplice Edward Buckley, 46, admitted having made several flights from Marck aerodrome, near the northern port of Calais, charging passengers £10,000 (€11,120) each.
The local prosecutor's office told AFP it was the first time it had handled a case in which illegal migrants were flown out of the country in a private aircraft.
The defendants admitted having made five trips since April, each time carrying between two and four passengers on their light aircraft, normally used for tourism.
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