Edwards sentencing delayed for trial testimony

Tuesday, July 18, 2000 | 11 a.m.

Dempsey D. White, 76, a former chief engineer with the state highway department, had been scheduled for sentencing on Aug. 4 on a single charge of failing to report a felony.

U.S. District Judge John Parker granted a motion filed last week by prosecutors to delay the sentencing. No new date was set.

In October 1998, White admitted aiding Edwin and Stephen Edwards' alleged plan to tape an FBI agent and others. White then failed to report those plans to authorities.

Prosecutors have said that White's sentence should be based on the truthfulness of his testimony. Until the case is resolved, there is no way to know how valuable his cooperation is, prosecutors said.

Edwards and his son were charged with illegal wiretapping in 1998 when a grand jury indicted them and five others in a casino licensing extortion scheme. Prosecutors later separated the wiretapping charge from the others. No trial date has been set.

Prosecutors allege the Edwardses wanted to wiretap an FBI agent's home telephone number to determine the status of the casino investigation. The Edwardses were convicted of the licensing scheme in May.

The former governor faces trial in September, along with Insurance Commissioner Jim Brown, on federal charges arising from an alleged sweetheart deal involving the liquidation of a failed insurance company.