Mozzelle "Mo" Brown of Norwich had done time in state prison before, but when he sold a .38 Special revolver and 13 grams of crack cocaine to a cooperating witness for the government in April 2008, the 35-year-old landed himself in federal custody for 15 years.

U.S. District Judge Janet C. Hall sentenced Brown as an "armed career criminal" Friday to 180 months of prison followed by five years of supervised release.

According to court documents Brown sold a Smith and Wesson, Model .38 Special, .38 caliber revolver, and approximately 13 grams of crack cocaine to an individual working with law enforcement in April 2008. He collected $1,150 for the sale.

The informant told investigators that Brown said he had taken the gun "from a white boy in a robbery" and advised him to get rid of it after he used it.

Brown, who had been held without bond while his case was pending, pleaded guilty in July 2009 to one count of possession of a firearm by a previously convicted felon. The armed career criminal law applies to defendants who have three previous convictions for a violent felony or a serious drug offense, or both. Brown served prison time in the past for possession and sale of narcotics and criminal possession of a weapon.

He was arrested as part of a long-term coordinated investigation dubbed "Operation Jersey Barrier," which was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Norwich Police Department, and the Connecticut State Police Statewide Narcotics Task Force.