Federal prosecutors say the owner of Hank Lee's Magic Factory "made a mockery of the justice system" and want him to spend 30 months in prison for committing over $500,000 in credit card fraud.

"Under any set of circumstances, this is a bad crime: lengthy, repeated, calculated, and callous," federal prosecutor Scott Garland wrote in a filing Aug. 31. "Once federal investigators started investigating the fraud's depth, breadth, and perpetrator, Harry Levy — though a beloved family man, a steadfast friend, and an engaging businessman — doubled down by lying to the investigators on three separate occasions." In court papers filed last week, prosecutors outlined their requested sentence for Levy, 61, the owner of the Medford-based magic store. He pleaded guilty to charges of credit card fraud and issuing false statements in April stemming from committing $561,927 in 134 false transactions between 2009 to 2011 on one customer's American Express card, then lying to investigators looking into the charges.

The U.S. Attorney's Office wants Levy to serve a 30 month sentence in federal prison, two years supervised release, pay resitution to the victim and an additional $60,000 fine, according to the government's sentencing memorandum. Levy is scheduled to be sentenced Sept. 6 in U.S. District Court in Boston by Judge Patti Saris.

While prosecutors seek prison time, Levy is looking for a sentence of six months in a halfway house, six months of home confinement and three years probation, according to a sentencing memorandum filed Sept. 3 by his attorney, Steven Sussman. "Although Levy has been in the magic business for many years, he had never before misused any customer's financial or personal information," Sussman wrote. "Indeed, Levy had a well deserved reputation as an honest business- man."

Sussman's memorandum, partially redacted to preclude information from a psychological evaluation and other personal details, included letters submitted from friends, family and customers touting Levy's character.

Levy's business was opened in 1975 and it was successful for many years, but the internet dealt it a blow and Levy had to close his retail shop in Boston and pare down to two employees at his Medford warehouse in 2007, Sussman wrote.

Then, Levy was hit with a $4 million lawsuit in 2008 from the family of a young Tennessee boy who used his parent's credit card to order a chemistry-based magic trick and ended up losing six fingers in an explosion. "The controversy about whether the insurer would cover the loss, on top of the catastrophic loss suffered by the young boy, weighed heavily on Levy, causing loss of sleep and abnormally high anxiety," Sussman wrote.