A 66-year-old South Bend man has been sentenced to nearly three years in federal prison after pleading guilty to illegally possessing a firearm.

Gregory Hilliard was sentenced Monday to 33 months in prison, followed by two years of supervised release, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Indiana.

Federal prosecutors said Hilliard, who has prior felony convictions, was prohibited from possessing a gun. They said he brought a loaded handgun into a South Bend medical facility and left it on a waiting room chair before leaving the building.

An employee later recovered the gun, and no one was injured.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives investigated the case with assistance from South Bend Police, the Indiana State Police Laboratory and the St. Joseph County Prosecutor’s Office.