WASHINGTON (AP) — An attorney for a Maryland man convicted of illegally helping Iran launch its first satellite says his client should spend no more than 27 months in prison, not the approximately 16 to 20 years the government is recommending.

An attorney for Nader Modanlo made the recommendation in a letter Tuesday to the judge overseeing the case. He called the government’s recommendation “truly shocking.” Modanlo was convicted by a jury earlier this year and is set to be sentenced Friday in a federal court in Maryland.