U.S. urges 3-year term for Libby

WASHINGTON, May 25 (UPI) -- The U.S. special counsel who prosecuted Lewis Libby in the CIA leak case has recommended a prison term of 30 to 37 months for the former White House official.

Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald said in a court filing that Libby -- who was convicted in March on four felony counts in connection with the public naming of a CIA agent -- did not deserve leniency because he has shown no remorse, The New York Times reported.

Libby resigned as chief of staff to Vice President Dick Cheney after he was indicted on charges that he lied to FBI investigators and committed perjury during his testimony to a grand jury.

Fitzgerald said in the court filing that "Libby was a high-ranking government official whose falsehoods were central to issues in a significant criminal investigation."

He said contrition is a precondition to leniency, but Libby had "expressed no remorse, no acceptance of responsibility and no recognition that there is anything he should have done differently," the newspaper said.

Libby is scheduled to be sentenced June 5.

There has been speculation about whether President George W. Bush might pardon Libby, but the White House has not commented publicly about that.