NEW YORK - The Latest on the Anthony Weiner sexting case (all times local):

12:05 a.m.

Lawyers for disgraced former New York congressman Anthony Weiner (WEE'-nur) say a 15-year-old North Carolina girl he sexted had hoped to influence the presidential election. They say she told government investigators that had been a goal from the outset when she reached out to the Democrat.

The lawyers say in a presentence submission filed Wednesday to a federal court judge Weiner rebuffed the girl's repeated requests before exchanging sexually explicit messages with her. They say the girl documented their interactions from the outset before selling her story to a British tabloid for $30,000 in September 2016.

Weiner is scheduled to be sentenced later this month. His lawyers requested no prison time. Guidelines call for Weiner to get between 21 and 27 months in prison when he's sentenced in two weeks.

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10:55 p.m.

Lawyers for disgraced former New York congressman Anthony Weiner (WEE'-nur) say he's no predator and have asked a judge to spare him prison when he's sentenced for transmitting obscene material to a 15-year-old North Carolina girl.

Weiner's attorneys portrayed him sympathetically when they filed papers Wednesday with his sentencing judge. The papers argue Weiner is a better man than when he committed the crime. They say his crime stemmed from a sad confluence of untreated addiction and profit-seeking curiosity.

Guidelines call for Weiner to get between 21 and 27 months in prison when he's sentenced in two weeks.

Earlier Wednesday, Weiner appeared briefly before a state judge presiding over his divorce from Huma Abedin, an aide to Democrat Hillary Clinton.

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3 p.m.

Former congressman Anthony Weiner and his estranged wife, Huma Abedin, have appeared before a New York City judge to ask for privacy in their divorce case.

The couple sat together in the courtroom Wednesday and left in the same car.

Their lawyers asked for parts of the case to be sealed because it involves visitation for their young child.

Attempts to keep the proceedings quiet haven't worked so far. The judge allowed a news photographer in the courtroom.

Abedin was a top aide to Democrat Hillary Clinton. She split with Weiner after he repeatedly sent sexually explicit material to other women.

Weiner is to be sentenced later this month for sending obscene material to a 15-year-old girl.

The FBI investigation of that case became a factor in the presidential election.

News from © The Associated Press, 2017