Shun Lamar Birch, facing trial in Denver for the killing of a state witness, was sentenced to five years in federal prison last week in an unrelated firearms case.
Birch, 28, was convicted by a U.S. District Court jury of being a felon in possession of two guns. The weapons were found during a search of his Aurora townhouse.
Chief Judge Wiley Y. Daniel handed down the sentence on March 11.
In Denver District Court, Birch is charged with conspiracy to commit murder along with Willie D. Clark and Brian Kenneth Hicks.
The three are accused of killing Kalonniann Clark in December 2006. She was supposed to testify against Hicks in an attempted murder case just before she was shot to death.
Prosecutors allege Hicks ordered the hit from jail and Clark and Birch carried out the homicide.
Clark was convicted last week of killing Denver Broncos cornerback Darrent Williams. Hicks is the owner of the white Chevrolet Tahoe used in that drive-by shooting.
