* Jason Meisner at the Tribune…

Federal prosecutors are asking for a prison sentence of about three years for a Chicago lawyer accused of scheming with former Ald. Edward Vrdolyak to reap millions of dollars in legal fees from the state’s massive settlement with the tobacco companies despite having done no work on the case.

Daniel Soso, 67, pleaded guilty last year to one count of income tax evasion for his role in the scheme, which prosecutors said netted Soso and Vrdolyak at least a combined $10 million in illicit payments from the historic $9.3 billion settlement beginning in 1999.

Soso is scheduled to be sentenced next week by U.S. District Judge Robert Dow. Vrdolyak, 82, who also pleaded guilty, faces up to about 2½ years in prison when he is sentenced April 2.

In a court filing Tuesday, prosecutors said that sparing Soso from a significant term behind bars would “contribute to the current climate of cynicism that well-heeled white collar criminal defendants and the politically connected are held to to a different standard than others.”

Gee, I wonder what white-collar, politically connected criminal recently in the news for being held to a different standard they might be referring to here? Any guesses?