FAIRBANKS -- Prosecutors in the trial of three Fairbanks militia members are seeking to limit negative testimony about a witness.

U.S. Attorney Karen Loeffler in a motion this week says it's reasonable for jurors to know that an FBI informant is a convicted felon. But she says defense attorneys should be limited in asking about his theft convictions.

Loeffler says delving into the details "would run the real risk of the sideshow swallowing the circus."

The Fairbanks Daily News-Miner reports the filing was made in the cases of Schaeffer Cox, Coleman Barney and Lonnie Vernon. They are charged with plotting to kill federal employees.

The informant is a man whose record includes two felony convictions in Palmer for defrauding customers of a septic tank business and for stealing a construction tractor.