Minor, ex-judges’ re-sentencing postponed

JACKSON — A federal judge has postponed a re-sentencing hearing for imprisoned former attorney Paul Minor and two former Mississippi judges in a judicial corruption case.

Attorneys for Minor and former Harrison County judges Wes Teel and John Whitfield are asking U.S. District Judge Henry Wingate to throw out the convictions. Wingate had said he would re-sentence the men today if he refuses to vacate the convictions.

Yesterday, however, Wingate postponed the hearing until March 21 because of a scheduling conflict with a jury trial.

Minor and the judges must be re-sentenced because a federal appeals court dismissed some of their convictions in 2007.

Prosecutors say Minor orchestrated a complicated scheme in which he guaranteed loans for the judges, then used cash and third parties to pay off the loans.

Source: The Associated Press