We used to have several locals hawking home-rolled wares at local gun shows. I was only really familiar with one because he was always lurking around the gun store I worked for at the time. He was a straight-up dumbass. I wouldn't have trusted him to pour a glass of water, much less properly load a cartridge.
My guess was the guy took the sentence on a plea deal to knock down the "unlicensed ammo mfg" part. With good behavior he'll be out in 6-8 months. With a decent attorney and careful judge selection, he might not do any time at all given a bit of luck on the appeal.
Brad