A convicted felon who had a gun in his house when his parole officer searched it nearly two years ago is to spend 15 years in federal prison, a judge ruled Tuesday.

Joshua Allen Ward, 34, of Emmett, was convicted of being a felon in possession of a firearm after an August trial before U.S. District Judge Edward Lodge, who imposed the 180-month sentence and ordered him to serve five years probation after he's released.

Ward has a previous felony conviction for aggravated assault in Ada County that prohibits him from possessing weapons. He left prison in November 2010. In January 2011, Ward violated his parole by getting kicked out of a self-help class after he refused to apologize "for displaying an inappropriate attitude during the class," according to court documents.

His parole officer and five Gem County sheriff's deputies went to Ward's home on Jan. 25, 2011, to arrest him and found a 9 mm semi-automatic handgun and ammunition for a shotgun in a locked briefcase.

Ward was sentenced under the federal Armed Career Criminal Act, which calls for a mandatory minimum sentence for felons convicted of gun crimes who have three or more convictions for certain crimes.