A 20-year-old Roxbury man was sentenced to state prison today after admitting that he posed his infant daughter in a photo with a large-capacity firearm earlier this year, Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel F. Conley said.

MICHAEL MAJORS (D.O.B. 3/8/89) pleaded guilty reckless endangerment of a child and unlawful possession of the Cobray MAC-11 style 9mm firearm. Majors admitted to posing his daughter, then 17 months old, with the weapon and photographing her on or about Jan. 12. An extended magazine is protruding from the weapon in the photo.

Majors also pleaded guilty to additional gun charges, including unlawful possession of a large-capacity weapon, a large capacity magazine, a .38 caliber Colt Government handgun, and various loose rounds of ammunition. Prosecutors dismissed an additional gun charge because the weapon in question – a .380 caliber semiautomatic handgun – was inoperable, Conley said.

Members of Conley’s Gang Unit recommended that Majors serve six to eight years in state prison followed by three years of probation. Superior Court Judge Charles Hely sentenced him to three to five years in prison to be followed by the recommended probationary term.

“It’s not just chilling but incomprehensible that a person would do such a thing with a child,” Conley said. “Every day, we see the damage that unregistered firearms do to intended and unintended targets in the City of Boston. Posing a child with a weapon like this one, apparently loaded, isn’t cute. It’s not amusing. It’s criminal and it just shocks the conscience.”

Had the case proceeded to trial, prosecutors would have proven that at about 2:40 a.m. on Jan. 15, Boston Police officers were dispatched to a Brinton Street home in Roxbury for a call of domestic violence. Officers were notified shortly thereafter that the defendant was armed.

Upon arrival, officers saw the female 911 caller, identified as KISMAURI PENA (D.O.B. 4/26/88) standing on a sidewalk outside of the home, and the defendant standing on the porch. Pena told officers that Majors was armed with two guns when he hit her three times and took $100 from her. Officers took Majors into custody and secured the home in order to obtain a search warrant.

Officers did a protective sweep of the home where the defendant lived with his mother. Inside one of the rooms – later identified as Majors’ bedroom – officers found another man, DASHAWN COLE (D.O.B. 3/12/90). Cole, who was seated but within arm’s reach of a knife, allegedly ignored officers’ requests to show his hands and exit the room. Cole was ultimately escorted out of the house.

After obtaining a search warrant, officers recovered a total of four firearms and ammunition. A bulletproof vest was also discovered behind a love seat in the living room. During the course of the investigation, officers also recovered several photographs depicting Majors’ and Pena’s daughter holding the Cobray MAC-11.

Cole was charged with unlawful possession of a firearm without a license when a fingerprint analysis conducted by the Boston Police Department’ Latent Fingerprint Unit indicated the presence of two fingerprints located on the .357 Magnum revolver that were individualized to Cole. This charge qualified Cole as his fourth and subsequent firearm possession charge. A trial date for Cole to face those charges is due to be scheduled this week.

Pena was subsequently charged with reckless endangerment to a child for knowingly placing her child in Majors’ care when she knew he was in possession of multiple firearms. She also faces a perjury charge for allegedly telling a Suffolk County grand jury that the child in the photograph was not hers. Pena is scheduled to return to court September 30.

Majors was represented by attorney Richard Doyle.