Roger Stone, a former adviser to U.S. President Donald Trump, leaves the Prettyman United States Courthouse after a hearing February 1, 2019 in Washington, DC.

A top federal prosecutor said in a new legal filing Tuesday that Republican operative Roger Stone deserves to be sentenced to "far less" time in prison than the seven-to-nine year span that was first proposed Monday evening by prosecutors who had handled his trial.

The filing — which did not offer a new recommended sentence — came hours after both the Justice Department and President Donald Trump criticized the initial proposal for Stone's punishment by prosecutors as unduly harsh.

The first filing "does not accurately reflect the Department of Justice's position on what would be a reasonable sentence in this matter," wrote Timothy Shea, the U.S. Attorney for Washington, D.C wrote in the new sentencing memorandum.

Shea wrote that original sentencing recommendation by his prosecutors "could be considered excessive and unwarranted under the circumstances."

Shea said that Stone "committed serious offenses and deserves a sentence of incarceration that is 'sufficient , but not greater than necessary. ' "

But he also said it should be up to Judge Amy Berman Jackson to determine the "appropriate" punishment for Stone, a longtime ally of Trump's, when she sentences him next week in Washington federal court.

Shea wrote, "While it remains the position of the United States that a sentence of incarceration is warranted here," the first sentence proposal "would not be appropriate or serve the interests of justice in this case."

Justice Department spokeswoman Kerri Kupec told NBC News that the decision to lower the recommended prison term for Stone sentencing recommendation was made Monday night, several hours before Trump blasted the original sentencing proposal on Twitter.