An Oregon gang member accused of shooting a man in Payette last year has been sentenced to 20 years in federal prison for a gun crime.

Martin Cantu Ruiz, 31, had a sawed-off 12-gauge shotgun at his home at 1239 El Doran Drive in Nampa when a SWAT team searched his home on March 23, 2011. Police say Ruiz shot Emmett Mills, then 45, in one of his knees during a fight at Mills' trailer at 515 S. 11th St., in Payette two days earlier.

Ruiz, a member of the Northerners gang in Ontario, has felony gun and assault convictions in Oregon, as well as aiding and abetting aggravated battery and battery on a correctional officer in Idaho and convictions for four other violent crimes, according to court documents. The convictions prohibited him from lawfully possessing firearms.

Ruiz was sentenced under the federal armed career criminal act, which mandates 15-year minimum sentences for felons with three or more convictions for violent crimes.

In addition to 240 months in prison, U.S. District Judge Lynn Winmill sentenced Ruiz Thursday to five years of probation and a $1,500 fine. Ruiz is prohibited from contacting gang members of possession gang paraphernalia.

A federal jury convicted Ruiz in September after a two-day trial in Boise.