CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (AP) -- Three men convicted of illegally selling guns were sentenced in federal court in Chattanooga on Thursday.

The Chattanooga Times Free Press reports ( http://bit.ly/18yozIy ) 41-year-old Kevin Dawson received the harshest sentence of two years, 10 months in prison.

Federal agents first encountered Dawson while tracing guns purchased by a man convicted of killing a Chattanooga police officer. An agent told Dawson that he needed to get a federal firearms license, but Dawson continued to sell weapons without a license.

He was arrested after he tried to buy a fully automatic Thompson submachine gun from an undercover agent.

Dawson read a letter of contrition to the judge and became tearful when he reached an apology to his family. He had forfeited 323 firearms as part of his plea deal.

Also sentenced on Thursday were 68-year-old Carl Monroe, who got six months' probation for selling a weapon to a convicted felon, and 66-year-old Jack Wardlaw, who got a year of house arrest and a $4,000 fine.

Wardlaw, who is Dawson's father-in-law, invested $15,000 in his relative's gun business and prosecutors said he made at least two sales to people who were part of the investigation.

A fourth defendant, Richard Monroe, the brother of Carl Monroe, was acquitted.

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Information from: Chattanooga Times Free Press, http://www.timesfreepress.com