Andrew Gillum's lawyers ask for his public corruption trial to move to 2023

Lawyers for former Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum are asking to push back his trial on federal public corruption charges until spring 2023.

A motion for a continuance filed Friday by Miami attorneys David Markus and Todd Yoder follows a similar request filed earlier this week by lawyers for Gillum’s co-defendant, Sharon Lettman-Hicks. The two defendants were initially scheduled to stand trial Aug. 16 at the U.S. Courthouse in Tallahassee.

Gillum’s lawyers echoed concerns from Lettman-Hicks’ attorneys, Mutaqee Akbar and Robert Morris of Tallahassee, that they are sifting through government evidence and not ready for trial.

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“The government just provided the first wave of discovery,” Gillum’s counsel wrote. “The volume of discovery is massive, including boxes of CDs with audio files. We will work with the government on trying to figure out what’s what, but it will be a tedious and intensive process.”

On Thursday, U.S. District Judge Allen Winsor granted Lettman-Hicks’ request for continuance, which federal prosecutors did not oppose. And while he didn’t set a new date, he scheduled a telephonic conference for Aug. 4 to discuss calendar issues.

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Gillum’s lawyers said they have four federal trials, including one in Colorado, scheduled through the end of the year. They said Lettman-Hicks’ lawyers also have trial commitments through the year.

“Each of these trials has been pending for quite some time and are extremely unlikely to be moved,” Gillum’s lawyers wrote, referring to their own cases. “Accordingly, we are respectfully requesting that the court specially set this matter for some time in the spring of 2023 so as to give counsel adequate time to prepare.”

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The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Florida doesn’t oppose the request, Gillum’s lawyers noted. They said federal prosecutors have a trial of their own set for November.

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A federal grand jury indicted Gillum and Lettman-Hicks last month on charges of wire fraud and conspiracy to commit mail fraud, with the former mayor facing an additional charge of lying to the government.

The 21-count indictment accused the pair of illegally soliciting campaign donations involving his 2018 campaign for Florida governor and keeping some of the proceeds for themselves. Both pleaded not guilty.

The charges arose from the same undercover FBI investigation that began in 2015 and led to bribery convictions for former Mayor and City Commissioner Scott Maddox, his aide Paige Carter-Smith and businessman John “J.T.” Burnette.

Contact Jeff Burlew at jburlew@tallahassee.com or follow @JeffBurlew on Twitter.

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This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Andrew Gillum lawyers want public corruption trial delay until 2023