ROCKFORD – A 39-year-old suburban Chicago man has been sentenced to more than 7 ½ years in prison for obtaining a deadly puffer-fish toxin to deploy as a weapon.

Edward Bachner was sentenced Monday in federal court. He pleaded guilty last year to knowingly possessing the toxin for use as a weapon, wire fraud and filing a false tax claim.

The Lake in the Hills man was arrested in 2008 after picking up a package containing the toxins. Authorities originally claimed he planned to kill his wife and collect on a $20 million insurance policy but those allegations were not part of his guilty plea.