An Aroostook County man has been sentenced to 2½ years in federal prison for being a felon in possession of a firearm.

Frank Lavway, 66, of Chapman was sentenced Thursday in U.S. District Court in Bangor.

He had pleaded guilty in August 2015 for possessing a loaded Derringer handgun during an encounter with Maine State Police at his residence in September 2014.

He was prohibited from possessing firearms because he had a 2009 felony drug conviction.

During sentencing, U.S. District Judge John Woodcock Jr. noted that Lavway used the handgun in connection with maintaining a residence where the synthetic drug bath salts had been distributed.