Christopher Rocancourt, the con man who passed himself off as a Rockefeller in order to separate the wealthy from their riches, could spend less than five years in federal prison under a deal with prosecutors, his lawyer said Thursday.

Peter Hoffman, a private investigator hired by some of Rocancourt's alleged marks, said he had not spoken with any of his clients and was unsure how they will react to the plea bargain Sherman disclosed to reporters. According to Sherman, federal sentencing rules will require Rocancourt to make restitution in addition to the 46 months to 57 months the lawyer says the government is willing to settle on.

Hoffman said he noted that Rocancourt appeared weary at his arraignment April 11. The defendant wore blue prison garb and looked considerably thinner than in the past.

"He walked into the courtroom from the holding cell and he looked a little bewildered," Hoffman said. "He looked wormy and scrawny, as one would imagine given what we've seen of him."

Although the media's fascination with the so-called "Counterfeit Rockefeller" began when his Hamptons summer vacation ended in 2000, law enforcement authorities have been on his trail since at least 1987. From 1987 to 1992, he often used the name Prince Galitzine Christo to con his fellow Frenchmen, published reports say.

In 1993, Swiss authorities extradited Rocancourt from Las Vegas but were never able to make charges stick. He was suspected of involvement in the 1991 armed theft of more than 400,000 francs from a Geneva jewelry store.

While on the run in 2000, Rocancourt told the New York Times that he felt pity for his victims but no remorse over his actions.

"I feel sorry for their greed," he said. "I am not laughing. There is nothing funny about stupidity."

"We have worked out the case. We just weren't ready to do it today," attorney Victor Sherman said after leaving a federal courthouse in Brooklyn for a routine case status conference.

Rocancourt, 36, was extradited from Canada last month after serving two years for conning people in the Vancouver area. While he was jailed, Rocancourt wrote an autobiography which has yet to hit U.S. book markets and in which he bragged about his life of crime and ridiculed those he stole from.

"When all is said and done, they gave me over one million greenbacks in exchange for the promise of putting this money into income-bearing deals with the guarantee of the Rockefeller name and with receipts of absolutely no legal value," Rocancourt wrote, according to European press accounts. "Cash. A record. Almost one million dollars. In the hands of Christophe Rocancourt. Who would have imagined it?"

Sherman said that despite Rocancourt's apparent glee about his life of crime, he had an epiphany in prison and now wants to settle all his debts to society and become a positive role model for his 5-year-old son, Zeus.

"He's a changed man since he's been in jail. He dedicated his book to his son," Sherman said. "He realizes the error of his ways and he's going to live a law-abiding life in the future."

The federal prosecutor handling an 11-count indictment charging Rocancourt with credit card and wire fraud and other charges in Brooklyn said he was not permitted to discuss anything that hasn't happened in open court. The prosecutor, Assistant U.S. Attorney Ronald White, told Courttv.com that the case was continued until May 19, the first chance Rocancourt will have to change his plea to guilty.

"I can't talk about a plea agreement that hasn't already been filed," White said. "I can't talk about what's not already in the public record one way or another."

According to Sherman, Rocancourt is prepared to plead guilty to some of the charges in each of three New York and California jurisdictions that have filed criminal complaints against him.

He jumped bail in the Hamptons, the tony Long Island, N.Y., playground for the rich and famous, in 2000 after being charged with criminal impersonation and running up a $19,000 bed and breakfast bill. After Rocancourt posted $45,000 bail and fled the U.S. to Canada on a forged passport, stories emerged about Rocancourt's lavish spending and bold claims that he was a member of the super-rich Rockefeller clan.

At the time, Rocancourt was already wanted for jumping bail two years earlier in California. He was freed on $100,000 bail after being charged along with three others, including a woman who claimed to be the adopted niece of the president of a small African country, with forging passports.

The Brooklyn, N.Y., indictment stems from a classic in which Rocancourt allegedly enticed a woman to fly to New York from Los Angeles to complete a deal in which he would loan her money. Prosecutors say the woman gave Rocancourt the $100,000 "advance-loan fee" he demanded but took off without giving her the $4.2-million loan she believed was forthcoming.