SAN DIEGO -- Federal prosecutors say they would agree to release portions of some sealed transcripts concerning the guilty plea of a key figure in the Randy "Duke" Cunningham scandal, it was reported Thursday.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Jason Forge said Wednesday the portion of a hearing in February at which New York developer Thomas Kontogiannis pleaded guilty could be made public, The San Diego Union-Tribune reported.

Forge also said prosecutors do not object to the release of 85 percent of the material in transcripts from four hearings held in February and April regarding his plea. All those transcripts are under seal and were the subject of a federal appellate court hearing Monday, the newspaper reported.

Forge said he would first have to check with the 9th U.S. District Court of Appeal to see if portions of the transcript could be released. That court has held all pleadings related to the case under seal while it decides the matter, the Union-Tribune reported.

Raymond Granger, the attorney for Kontogiannis' nephew -- who is slated to go on trial next month on charges of conspiracy, money laundering and obstruction of justice -- said he needs some of the transcripts because Kontogiannis could be a witness against his client, the newspaper reported.

Kontogiannis pleaded guilty in a February secret hearing to a single count of money laundering. The plea agreement was kept secret for four months until Judge Larry A. Burns unsealed it in June.

Kontogiannis admitted to laundering $1.1 million in bribes paid by defense contractors to Cunningham. The former Republican congressman from Rancho Santa Fe is serving an eight-year, four-month prison term after pleading guilty to tax evasion and conspiracy.