BANGOR – A federal jury Thursday found a Millinocket man guilty of possessing a firearm after being convicted of a felony. The jury of seven women and five men deliberated for an hour before announcing their verdict in U.S. District Court in Bangor.

Jeffrey Paul Barnard, 40, could be sentenced to 10 years in prison on the conviction. Because of the structure of the federal sentencing guidelines, he faces a longer sentence than if he had pleaded guilty to the charge.

Barnard has four prior convictions for possessing a firearm after being convicted of a felony, according to court documents. He originally was convicted of marijuana possession in California before moving to Maine in 1997.

The arrest that led to Barnard’s day-and-a-half-long trial this week took place almost three years ago. He was arrested at his Kelly Lane home in the early hours of Dec. 3, 2000, on information obtained from a confidential informant by the Millinocket police. In the bedroom shared by Barnard and his wife, Vicki Barnard, 45, officers found a .22-caliber rifle, an SKS assault rifle and a pump-action shotgun.

Barnard was charged in federal court in August 2001. He was released on a $5,000 personal recognizance bond the next December while an appeal of the suppression motion granted by U.S. District Court Judge George Singal was pending before the U.S. 1st Circuit Court of Appeals in Boston.

A three-judge panel of the appeals court reversed Singal’s order in August 2002, the same month Barnard’s bail was revoked for testing positive for marijuana and other bail violations. Other motions and the appointment of a new federal judge to the case delayed the trial further.

Barnard said during testimony Thursday that he knew he was not supposed to possess firearms because of his prior conviction in California. He said the guns belonged to his then 17-year-old stepson. Barnard also testified that he purchased the gun cabinet at the urging of his wife.

The defendant said that he had never seen or handled the three guns police found in his bedroom, although he identified them in court as the weapons that were in his home.

Under redirect examination by his court-appointed attorney, Marvin Glazier of Bangor, Barnard said he recognized the weapons from pictures his attorney had shown him previously.

In his instructions, U.S. District Court Judge John Woodcock told the jury that the legal definition of possession included the power and intent to control something as well as actual possession. The jury found that Barnard was in possession of the firearms when he was arrested.

Barnard’s trial was the first presided over by Woodcock since he was confirmed by the U.S. Senate in June and inducted last month.

A date has not been set for Barnard’s sentencing.