Federal prosecutors are asking that disgraced former congressman Michael Grimm be sentenced to up to 2 ½ years in prison after he pleaded guilty to tax fraud.

Grimm, a Republican, is the former U.S. Representative for Staten Island. He pleaded guilty in December, before he was set to go on trial in Brooklyn federal court on charges of evading taxes by hiding more than $1 million in sales and wages while running a Manhattan health-food restaurant.

His defense estimated the appropriate sentence as between 12 and 18 months. Grimm is scheduled to be sentenced July 17. He had been charged with 20 counts in the scheme but pleaded guilty to one.

Grimm resigned in January after winning re-election. He was replaced by Daniel Donovan, the former District Attorney for Staten Island, also a Republican.

(AP)