A federal judge agreed Thursday to postpone the sentencing of former Gov. John G. Rowland.
Jurors handed Rowland seven guilty verdicts last week related to work he did or tried to do for two congressional campaigns.
After the jury foreman read the verdict, prosecutors indicated the would be willing to push back the Dec. 12 sentencing date until after the holidays. U.S. District Judge Janet Bond Arterton set 10 a.m. Jan. 7, 2015 as the new date.
The Jan. 7 sentencing date is the same day as the next gubernatorial inauguration.
Rowland’s crimes carry a maximum penalty of more than 50 years, though Rowland will likely face much less.
Rowland’s convictions stem from two campaigns.
In 2010, the former governor aggressively courted Republican Mark Greenberg, who is now in his third consecutive run for the 5th Congressional District seat. Rowland pitched Greenberg a consulting contract, which included $35,000 a month in compensation. But the former governor wanted the pay to come from Greenberg’s nonprofit animal shelter, the Simon Foundation. The Greenberg campaign eventually rejected Rowland’s proposal.
The former governor successfully entered into a similar arrangement with Brian Foley, the wealthy husband of Lisa Wilson-Foley, who ran for the seat in 2012. Foley paid Rowland $5,000 a month as a consultant for Apple Rehab, his nursing home company.
Meanwhile, Rowland worked as one of two main consultants to the Wilson-Foley campaign and used his afternoon talk radio show on WTIC 1080 AM to echo the candidate’s messages and attack her opponents.
