HOUSTON, (Reuters) – Alleged swindler Allen Stanford will spend more than a year in custody after a U.S. judge yesterday set his criminal trial for January 2011, later than prosecutors had hoped.
“This criminal case is going to get under way and it is going to go on schedule,” U.S. District Judge David Hittner said at a federal court hearing.
The date was a compromise between Stanford’s attorney, who wanted the trial to start in summer 2011, and U.S. prosecutors, who pushed for a September 2010 date.
“The government demands a speedy trial,” said Paul Pelletier, a federal prosecutor in the case.
Stanford, 59, has been in custody since June 19, when the government charged him with 21 criminal charges that he ran a $7 billion Ponzi scheme centered on fraudulent certificates of deposit (CDs) issued by his offshore bank in Antigua.
Stanford could face life in prison if convicted on all counts. Stanford in June pleaded not guilty to the charges.
