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A Baton Rouge man was sentenced to more than six years in federal prison, following his conviction for possession of a firearm by a felon, the Acting U.S. Attorney Ellison C. Travis said Monday. 

Edward Thompson, age 35, was also sentenced to three years of supervised released following his prison term and ordered to forfeit the firearm involved.

According to admissions made as part of his guilty plea, Thompson was found on Jan. 4, 2020, asleep at the wheel of a vehicle that had run off the road in the 3200 bock of Fairfields Avenue and had sideswiped a utility pole before stopping.

Baton Rouge Police officers responding to the accident found a .40 caliber semi-automatic pistol in the car, Travis said in a statement. 

Thompson, who was identified by police as a convicted felon, admitted to possessing the firearm and said he needed it because of where he lived. Officers also found crystal methamphetamine and crack cocaine in the car. 

U.S. District Judge John de Gravelles sentenced Thompson to 78 months in prison.