To the feds, Rudy Fratto is a top Chicago mobster.

A man who posed a significant threat to the safety of a top federal mob witness.

But to Fratto's defense attorney, he's something less than a criminal mastermind.

Fratto, 65, of Darien, who pleaded guilty to tax evasion in October, left behind as evidence "a paper trail any first-year accounting student could not fail to pick up!" his attorney, Arthur N. Nasser, wrote in a court filing.

Nasser is expected to ask Wednesday afternoon in federal court for Fratto to be sentenced to home confinement, rather than prison, arguing that Fratto is the sole provider to his family and his wife has trouble getting around with a broken foot.

Prosecutors are objecting. Fratto could be sentenced from 12 to 18 months in prison and faces paying restitution for the unpaid taxes of more than $280,000, according to his attorney's estimate.

Fratto avoided the taxes by having several businesses pay him through a bank account that he controlled in the name of a defunct company.

For all of Fratto's alleged colorful past, the tax evasion charge, a case investigated by the IRS, marks his first conviction.

His name has come up in one mob-related trial after another, most recently when authorities released a list of Outfit heavies who posed the most risk to the safety of Nick Calabrese, the mob hit man who turned into a star witness at the Family Secrets mob trial.