LINCOLN, NEBRASKA (AP) – A Kansas man has been sentenced to nearly eight years in federal prison for possessing bath salts in Nebraska before they were specifically outlawed by state and federal law.

Steve Sullivan, of Lawrence was arrested after a traffic stop in Otoe County in 2010.

The Lincoln Journal Star reports that prosecutors argued bath salts violated a federal law that prohibited possessing substances with intent to deliver that were similar to the chemical structure of an illegal, controlled substance and had a similar effect as the drug they mimicked.

Sullivan was convicted in December. During sentencing last week, Sullivan’s defense attorney told the judge that Sullivan thought he was complying with the law. The judge says while it was an “unusual case,” he sentenced Sullivan to prison.