DETROIT -- Federal prosecutors are seeking dismissal of obstruction of justice and perjury charges against the aunt of Sacramento Kings forward and ex-Michigan star Chris Webber.

The two-page request, filed Wednesday, cited "weak or inadmissible sufficient evidence.'' U.S. District Judge Nancy Edmunds is expected to approve the request.

The office said the case against Charlene Johnson is too weak to go forward without the testimony of former Michigan basketball booster Ed Martin, who died Feb. 15.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Keith Corbett told the Detroit Free Press that his office plans to proceed against Webber and his father, Mayce Webber Jr.

Webber, 30, of Granite Bay, Calif.; his father, 56, of Detroit; and Johnson, 50, of Southfield were indicted in September.

They were accused of lying in 2000 to a federal grand jury in Detroit about money authorities say Webber got from Martin from 1988 to 1993, when Webber attended Birmingham Detroit Country Day and Michigan.

The grand jury was investigating the illegal lottery Martin ran at Detroit-area auto plants. Martin, a retired Ford Motor Co. electrician, pleaded guilty last May to using lottery proceeds to lend $616,000 to Webber and three other ex-Michigan basketball players. Martin said he lent $280,000 to Webber.

Webber has denied the charges and denied receiving substantial financial help from Martin.

Johnson's lawyer, Steven Levy of Gary, Ind., declined to comment, saying he wanted to see the dismissal request and talk with his client.

Webber's lawyer, Steve Fishman of Detroit, said "no'' when asked whether prosecutors had shown any willingness to dismiss charges against Webber and his father.

The lawyer for Webber's father, Robert Morgan of Detroit, could not be reached.

Earlier this month, the NCAA banned Michigan from next season's postseason tournaments, denied the basketball program one scholarship a year for four seasons starting in 2004-05 and placed the athletic department on probation until Nov. 6, 2006. Those penalties were in addition to some self-imposed by the school.