By James McNair
Enquirer staff writer

On the eve of their sentencing, Tony Erpenbeck and his daughter, Lori Erpenbeck, asked a federal judge in Cincinnati to cut them some slack for their roles in the long-running bank-fraud case.

Ed McTigue, who represents Tony Erpenbeck, filed papers in court Wednesday objecting to the government's application of federal sentencing guidelines to his client. Assuming no criminal record is indicated in his sealed pre-sentence report, Tony Erpenbeck faces 70 to 87 months in prison for witness-tampering.

McTigue is asking U.S. Senior District Judge S. Arthur Spiegel to delay the hearing, so he can review a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision on sentencing rules. He will also argue for leniency. The government says the high-court ruling does not apply to the sentencings.

Separately, Lori Erpenbeck's lawyer, Patrick Hanley, filed papers Wednesday saying that imprisonment would be "completely inappropriate" for the sister of convicted bank swindler Bill Erpenbeck.

Lori Erpenbeck faces 108 to 135 months in prison on one bank-fraud conviction. Prosecutors have already asked that she receive a lower sentence in exchange for cooperating with the investigation and helping the FBI in its witness-tampering sting against Bill and Tony Erpenbeck in February.

Michelle Marksberry, the Erpenbeck Co.'s closing agent, will be sentenced with Tony and Lori Erpenbeck at 1:30 p.m. today.

E-mail jmcnair@enquirer.com