Ex-mayor's lawyers seek leniency

NEWARK, N.J., July 18 (UPI) -- Lawyers for the former mayor of Newark, N.J., asked a federal judge to be lenient to Sharpe James when he is sentenced for corruption.

James was convicted in April of conspiring with a former girlfriend who bought city properties and sold them quickly at a profit.

Prosecutors have said that James should be sentenced to 10 to 15 years under federal guidelines. His lawyers say that would mean the 72-year-old would die in prison, The Newark Star-Ledger reported.

In motions filed Thursday, lawyers Alan Zegas and Thomas Ashley also asked U.S. District Judge William Martini to allow James to remain free on bail while he appeals his conviction. The lawyers also urged that James, if he is imprisoned, be assigned to the prison camp at Fort Dix in southern New Jersey.

In their petition for leniency, the lawyers cited James' service to the city, including his 20 years as mayor.

"Defendant's lifelong accomplishments have been extraordinary," the lawyers said. "He has breathed life into a city that was long thought to be dead forever."