Former Gwinnett County Commissioner Shirley Lasseter is asking friends for character references as she prepares for a Sept. 5 sentencing on a federal bribery charge.

In an e-mail this week, Lasseter asked friends to write letters on her behalf to U.S. District Judge Charles Pannell Jr. The judge will sentence Lasseter and two co-defendants, who pled guilty May 31.

Lasseter admitted she took $36,500 from an undercover FBI agent in exchange for her vote on a real estate deal. Lasseter and the other defendants are cooperating in an ongoing federal corruption investigation.