BANGOR – A Canaan man was sentenced on Tuesday in U.S. District Court to 16 months in prison for violating federal gun laws.

John Lingaitis, 36, who moved to Canaan from Salem, Mass., about a year ago, pleaded guilty in June in federal court to possession of stolen firearms, possession of firearms with obliterated serial numbers, stealing firearms from a licensed dealer and possession of firearms while under a protection from abuse order.

He also was ordered on Tuesday to pay restitution of $11,500 to the Canaan Trading Post.

Lingaitis admitted to burglarizing the store on Oct. 29, 2003, and taking guns and ammunition. He was sentenced to a concurrent sentence on state charges, after pleading guilty in Somerset County Superior Court to burglary, theft and receiving stolen property, according to his attorney, Gregg D. Bernstein of Augusta, who defended him in federal court.

Attempts Thursday to reach Somerset County District Attorney Evert Fowle to confirm the state sentence were unsuccessful.

Lingaitis was discovered attempting to bury the guns in his back yard during a search of his rented home a month after the burglary. Agents from the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms recovered 18 of the 23 stolen firearms at Lingaitis’ residence.

Unable to make bail, Lingaitis has been held at the Penobscot County Jail since his arrest on federal charges in January. He will be credited with time served, according to Bernstein.

U.S. District Court Judge John Woodcock in late June gave Lingaitis permission to get married while in custody.