CHICAGO – Prosecutors are calling for an erstwhile powerbroker with links to former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich to be sentenced to up to eight years in prison for conspiring to shake down the Oscar-winning producer of "Million Dollar Baby," though they conceded health problems could justify a lesser sentence.

William Cellini, 77, reportedly suffered a heart attack in June and recently was treated for a blood clot. But some legal experts said Friday that those medical issues don't mean that U.S. District Judge James Zagel will go easy on the man, once known as the King of Clout, when he is sentenced in Chicago on July 23.

Filed this week, prosecutors' 29-page document adamantly rejects a defense proposal that the Springfield Republican receive probation and recommends a prison term of between 6 1/2 and eight years. They add, though, that a "combination of Cellini's health and age makes this one of the relatively rare situations" where a sentence below that range may be appropriate.