Assisting an arson scheme and carrying a gun after being found guilty of a felony will cost a Roanoke man 14 years in prison, a federal judge said Tuesday.

Michael Antwan Lee, 44, had pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Roanoke both to arson in connection with last year's destruction of the Weekend Sofa Outlet store on Williamson Road and to being a felon in possession of a firearm.

His record had earned him a federal armed career criminal designation, which meant he faced a 15-year minimum prison term. Federal sentencing guidelines suggested a range of incarceration that extended to 17 ¹₂ years.

But Lee's assistance to investigators brought a motion for substantial assistance from the government, a measure that lets a judge waive otherwise mandatory minimum sentence requirements.

Lee had testified that his employer, Jay Aneja, whose family owned Weekend Sofa Outlet, offered him money to burn the store. Lee had worked on security systems for Aneja, who with his wife also ran the 7-to-7 Grocery on Campbell Avenue and a jewelry store in Altavista.

Investigators said Aneja also had given Lee a gun despite his felony record.

The furniture store fire in August 2008 caused more than $800,000 damage. No one was injured.

Aneja faces charges of arson, mail fraud, wire fraud and falsely representing himself to be a U.S. citizen, as well as a firearms violation connected to Lee's pistol. Investigators have said they believe he is in New Delhi, in his native India.

Two other men who pleaded guilty in the case are set for sentencing in October.

-- Mike Gangloff