Former Chicago mayoral candidate Paul Vallas told a federal judge that convicted ex-Ald. Edward M. Burke is “worthy of whatever leniency you see fit to provide” in an early batch of what will likely be several letters of support ahead of Burke’s sentencing this summer.

Four letters written by Vallas and others became public Tuesday at the urging of the Chicago Sun-Times and Chicago Public Media, who asked U.S. District Judge Virginia Kendall to unseal letters she had recently placed on the docket.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Sarah Streicker agreed in court that such letters should “generally be made public with limited redactions for particularly sensitive information,” and Burke attorney Robin Waters did not object to unsealing the letters that had been filed so far.

Waters went on to say Burke’s legal team had also received “a large volume of letters.” While she said they plan to work out redactions with prosecutors for “particularly sensitive” information, she said the “vast majority” of them will be “fully unredacted” once they’re filed.

Burke is set to be sentenced June 24 following his conviction in December for racketeering, bribery and attempted extortion.

Vallas lost to Mayor Brandon Johnson in last year’s election. Vallas told the Chicago Sun-Times on Tuesday he never asked for his letter to be filed under seal. He also stressed that he did not mean to comment “on the merits of the charges” against Burke.

“My comments were not designed to reflect my opinion on those charges,” Vallas said. “They were merely to talk about the things both [Burke] and his wife did to help us.”

The case against Burke involved schemes related to the massive Old Post Office straddling the Eisenhower Expressway, the Field Museum, a Burger King in Burke’s 14th Ward and a Binny’s Beverage Depot on the Northwest Side.

Burke tried to squeeze developers involved with the Burger King, Old Post Office and Binny’s for business for his private tax appeals law firm, Klafter & Burke. He also threatened the Field Museum because it failed to respond when he recommended the daughter of former Ald. Terry Gabinski for an internship.

Burke asked Kendall earlier this year for an acquittal and a new trial, and his lawyers on Monday sought a chance to argue their points in front of the judge. Prosecutors have objected.

Vallas spent much of his three-page letter to Kendall explaining his background as the city’s former budget director and ex-CEO of the Chicago Public Schools. He wrote that he met Burke and Burke’s wife, retired Illinois Supreme Court Chief Justice Anne Burke, in 1992 when Richard M. Daley was mayor.

Vallas wrote he was shunned by members of the “political machine” after taking on “sacred cows” at City Hall — but Burke showed support.

“I honestly cannot recall a single time that he ever questioned my judgment, asked me to back down from a politically risky decision, or asked me for any consideration or favor,” Vallas wrote. “In short, Ed was a true professional whom I always felt met my standards for ethics.”

Vallas told the judge he was “well aware of the criminal conviction” in Burke’s case. But he wrote that “given my years of first hand observation of Ed’s body of civic and charitable contributions — and those of his wonderful wife who is no doubt devastated by the trial’s outcome — Ed is worthy of whatever leniency you see fit to provide.”

Other letter writers showed support for Burke in the correspondence unsealed Tuesday. But not all. One letter writer, Jim FitzGerald, wrote it is not enough to send Burke off to “Club Fed” for “a few months of golf practice and tanning.”

“Ed Burke didn’t leave one victim bleeding,” FitzGerald wrote, “he bled out an entire city for half a century. He deserves worse than a vacation in khaki.”

Contributing: Fran Spielman