Allen Stanford, the once flamboyant former Texas billionaire will stand trial in over one year, a judge in Houston ruled on Thursday.
The trial date was a compromise between what the prosecution desired which was September 2010 and Stanford’s defense which preferred a later one in the summer of 2011, reports Reuters.
“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 on Thursday.
Stanford, who is accused of masterminding a $7 billion Ponzi scheme and has been in prison since June 2009, appeared in court looking grayer and leaner, wearing green prison grab.
Federal prosecutors say the Ponzi scheme he perpetrated centered around certificates of deposit issued by Stanford International Bank in Antigua.
Stanford has maintained his innocence.
Meanwhile several former investors in the Stanford Investment Bank have also filed a lawsuit against Government of Antigua.
