A Nampa man who brokered the sale of a stolen firearm from jail has been sentenced in federal court for unlawfully possessing the gun.

Joshua Patrick Elliott, 28, is to serve 33 months in prison under a sentence imposed Wednesday by U.S. District Judge Lynn Winmill. Elliott also will be on probation for three years.

Elliott was awaiting sentencing for grand theft in Canyon County when he offered to sell a .45 caliber semi-automatic handgun to a confidential informant on Dec. 16, 2010. The informant didn't buy it but remembered the serial number and provided it to police. The next day, Elliott was sentenced to 3 to 10 years in prison but given an alternative, year-long "rider" treatment program. He soon called his girlfriend from jail and arranged for her to sell the pistol to the informant.

The woman, whose name was not included in court documents, sold the gun to the informant on Dec. 20, 2010, in a meeting secretly monitored by federal agents.

A grand jury indicted Elliot in March and he pleaded guilty in August. He's now awaiting transport to federal prison.