Citing good behavior, a judge in Milan has shaved six weeks off former Premier Silvio Berlusconi's once-a-week community service helping Alzheimer's patients, the media mogul's penalty for a tax fraud conviction.

Berlusconi lawyer Valentina Bolis said the judge Monday lopped off 45 days from his penalty, meaning he'll finish in early March. Bolis said the director of the Milan-area Sacred Family center for elderly and infirm, as well as a social worker who meets monthly with the 78-year-old Berlusconi, were among those providing favorable reports about his service.

A general amnesty reduced Berlusconi's four-year sentence to one year. His age made him eligible for house arrest but he was ordered to do community service instead.

The conviction cost him his Senate seat but he still leads his center-right party.