A man accused but never charged in a controversial 1995 Maui murder case was sentenced to 30 months in federal prison yesterday for unrelated weapons offenses.

James Hina Burkhart, 31, pleaded guilty to felony possession of a firearm and ammunition following his arrest by Honolulu police in 2007 while operating a stolen motorcycle.

Burkhart was once named as a suspect in the 1995 stabbing death on Maui of Vilmar Cabaccang, but another man, Taryn Christian, was eventually convicted of the crime and sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole.

Last year U.S. District Judge David Ezra ruled that Christian did not receive a fair trial in the state case and should be entitled to a new trial.

Ezra ruled that Christian should have been allowed to present evidence that Burkhart confessed to at least three people that he killed Cabaccang.

Burkhart was called as a witness in Christian's trial but invoked the Fifth Amendment and did not testify.

After Christian was convicted in 1997, he began serving a minimum 40-year prison term but was released from custody last year following Ezra's ruling.

Maui prosecutors are appealing Ezra's decision and the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals will hear arguments in the appeal here in October.

If the appeal is denied, Maui authorities have said they will try Christian again on the murder charge. Prosecutors said a wealth of evidence proved Christian's guilt in the first trial.

Burkhart appeared before U.S. District Judge J. Michael Seabright yesterday afternoon in the firearms case.

Seabright said that, except for Burkhart's lengthy criminal record, the charges against him amount to a "run-of-the-mill felony possession case."

Burkhart has been convicted of four felony drug offenses as well as two other felony threatening charges, according to state records.

The judge noted that Burkhart reported that he began using marijuana and crystal methamphetamine before he was a teenager.

But Burkhart is the father of a 13-month-old daughter and has "every incentive in the world to be law-abiding," Seabright said.

"You're getting a pretty fair shake here," Seabright told the defendant.

"I really hope you're prepared to turn your life around."