Wesley J. Kelly

A 36-year-old Lawrence man was sentenced to 15 months in federal prison in connection with leading police on an interstate pursuit and possessing a stolen gun and vehicle last year.

Wesley Kelley was sentenced Tuesday and ordered to pay more than $2,000 in fees and recitation. Kelley pleaded guilty in January to possession of a firearm while under indictment for a felony, possession of a firearm while a fugitive, theft and interstate transport of a stolen vehicle.

According to federal prosecutors, Kelley committed the crimes between February and March 2013. He was first charged with burglary in Douglas County District Court in February 2013 and failed to appear in court the next month.

Lawrence police later identified him as having stolen a rental car from a health club parking lot. The car was recovered in Florida and personal items belonging to Kelley were inside the car, according to a federal indictment. Kelley also used the registered owner’s credit card to buy a one-way bus ticket from Georgia to Lawrence and was arrested upon arrival at the bus station. When he was arrested, Kelley had a 9mm pistol and about 31 rounds of ammunition that he told a detective he took from the home of a friend in Arkansas.