Two Wyoming political figures have written letters to a federal judge, requesting leniency in sentencing the former No. 2 official in the Interior Department who pleaded guilty to obstructing justice by lying to a Senate committee.

J. Steven Griles is the second-highest-level Bush administration official to be caught up in the ongoing Department of Justice investigation of former lobbyist Jack Abramoff. Although Griles initially denied doing any favors for Abramoff's casino-owning Indian tribe clients, court records show that Griles inserted himself into several casino cases at Interior.

U.S. Rep. Barbara Cubin, R-Wyo., and Tom Sansonetti, former assistant attorney general for the Department of Justice's environment and natural resources division, have both written to Judge Ellen Huvelle of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. The two Wyoming Republicans are part of an effort by 91 people to convince the judge that Griles should not be sentenced to prison, but should instead be given three months' home confinement, 500 hours of community service and a "reasonable" $15,000 fine when he is sentenced June 26.

Sansonetti is an applicant for the vacant seat in the U.S. Senate left by the late Craig Thomas.

The 91 people also include three Republican-era former secretaries of Interior and Idaho Gov. Butch Otter. Cubin was the only member of Congress to go to bat for Griles.

Griles' legal team has suggested that half of the community service would be with "Wonderful Outdoor World" in the position of national counselor and strategic planning coordinator. In that post, Griles would develop public and private partnerships among federal land agencies, Disney Co. and the American Recreation Coalition, as well as raise money and conduct outreach to the government and media. The other half of Griles' community service would focus on "Operation Coaches and Warriors," to assist injured veterans of the Iraq war.

Griles pleading guilty this spring to a felony for making false statements in testimony before the Senate Indian Affairs Committee in 2005 and earlier in an interview with panel investigators working for Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., the chairman of the committee. Griles withheld information from the committee about his meeting Abramoff through Italia Federici, president of the Council of Republicans for Environmental Advocacy. Griles was dating Federici at that time.

Earlier this month, Federici pleaded guilty to one count of income tax evasion and one count of obstructing the U.S. Senate's investigation into the corruption scandal surrounding Abramoff, before Judge Huvelle.

According to court documents, Griles' felony charge could land him in prison for a maximum of five years and carry a $250,000 fine. Department of Justice attorneys, however, recommended a 10-month sentence - half to be served in a federal prison.

In her letter, Cubin noted that Griles had been a friend since she first entered Congress, and was particularly helpful with coal miners' health legislation and reauthorization of the Abandoned Mine Lands program last year.

"His voice now strains under the sorrow and regret he bears for his infraction. I believe a sentence of community service will benefit this nation much more than will his imprisonment," Cubin wrote.

Sansonetti's three-page letter extolled Griles' public service and his work in the private sector as well.

"Steve is the consummate public servant," Sansonetti wrote. "He took on huge, complicated, and often unpopular, tasks for Secretary (Gale) Norton within the Interior building, such as the complex and high-profiled Cobell case involving the management of Indian Trust Fund monies."

Sansonetti strongly denied that Griles had ever tried to influence him "on matters dealing with Indian tribes and their affairs before the Department of Justice."

Asked for further comment, Sansonetti said in a telephone interview Friday that the letter speaks for itself, but noted that he has known Griles for many years, and his friend is "in a jam."

"You find out who your real friends are when you get in trouble or your name gets put on a ballot," said Sansonetti, now an attorney with Holland and Hart in Cheyenne.

Cubin's press secretary also suggested that the congresswoman's letter "spoke for itself."

Scott Silver, executive director of Wild Wilderness and an environmental advocate, expressed dismay that Griles sought leniency.

"Instead of doing jail time for lying to Congress in the Jack Abramoff investigation, disgraced Interior Secretary J. Steven Griles has asked a federal judge to be allowed to do community service with the American Recreation Coalition and the Walt Disney Company," Silver said, "and to once again work on their behalf much as he did before being caught, fired and convicted."

Griles is scheduled for sentencing on June 26.