YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio- Some members of the community have written letters to a federal judge asking for leniency for mall magnate J.J. Cafaro at his sentencing next week.

Cafaro pleaded guilty to making a false statement to the government regarding a campaign donation to his daughter, Capri Cafaro's failed 2004 bid for the Ohio Senate.

Monsignor John DeMarinis of St. Anthony's Church in Youngstown is among those who have written letters asking the judge to consider Cafaro's charity work when imposing sentence.

"The man exudes charity wherever anything is needed. For example, in my own church, the boiler blew up. I said Jay, my boiler, 'Don't worry about it. It's taken care of,'" DeMarinis said.

Other letters came from members of local organizations, as well as from a Campbell police detective and from Cafaro's wife.

In one of the letters, the judge is asked to weigh all of the good with the bad and asks that he impose probation and a fine, rather than jail time.

"Remember justice, if you've seen her. She has a scale and is blindfolded. She's weighing something. And I always thought in my own mind, 'the good and the bad, the good and the bad.' And we hope and pray that's done, that's all," the letter states.

It is not known whether a previous conviction for bribery related to former Congressman Jim Traficant have any bearing on Cafaro's sentencing.