A plea hearing for Samuel Israel, the convicted founder of hedge-fund firm Bayou Group LLC charged with bail jumping, was delayed until next year while he undergoes 90 days of medical and psychological evaluation, the U.S. said.
Israel is accused of faking his suicide and fleeing the day he was to begin a 20-year sentence for his federal conviction in a $400 million fraud. His last plea hearing on Sept. 16 was delayed so he could continue treatment for drug abuse.
"The judge ordered 90 days of medical evaluation rather than him pleading today," said Herb Hadad, a spokesman for Manhattan U.S. Attorney Michael Garcia in White Plains, New York, federal court. Last month, U.S. District Judge Kenneth Karas barred Israel from entering a plea for the second time. In August, the judge said Israel couldn't enter a plea after the hedge fund manager claimed his addiction to methadone may have impaired his judgment. Israel said at the time his ability to understand the proceedings was "60 to 70 percent."
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