A gun dealer and former candidate for mayor of the south-central Nebraska city of Holdrege has been sentenced to 2 1/2 years in federal prison for illegally having a gun silencer.
Federal prosecutors for Nebraska say 31-year-old Joseph Melton was sentenced Friday to 30 months in prison after pleading guilty to one count of possession of an unregistered silencer.
Authorities say Melton was part owner of Leadfoot, a Holdrege gun shop and manufacturer that had obtained a federal firearms license to manufacture and sell silencers.
During a compliance check in 2017, federal agents found the unlicensed silencer inside the business.