RENO, Nev. — Federal prosecutors in Nevada are urging leniency for a former sheriff’s deputy who pleaded guilty to accepting bribes to give preferential treatment to “Girls Gone Wild” founder Joe Francis while he was jailed in Reno last year.

Ex-Washoe County deputy Ralph Hawkins admitted he accepted more than $3,000 in cash and tickets to Oakland Raiders football games from a Francis associate. In exchange, he snuck in food — including sushi and barbecued chicken — for the soft porn mogul while he was being held on tax evasion charges.

Hawkins is scheduled to be sentenced Friday afternoon in U.S. District Court in Reno.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Ron Rachow is recommending he get probation and pay a $4,000 fine instead of prison time because he cooperated in the investigation.