In general, 5 years sentence would be a felony. Misdemeanors generally run to a maximum of 365 days. That's why the BATF has the cutoff criteria as a punishment of 366 days or more. There is some flexibility at the courtroom level, perhaps the prosecutor offered calling this a misdemeanor, though it was charged (and was truly) a felony.
Still, I'm all over this ruling and happy about it.