DeLay will get a trial in money laundering and conspiracy case

AUSTIN, TEX. - Former U.S. House majority leader Tom DeLay will get his long-awaited trial in Texas ahead of two co-defendants, a judge said Tuesday, five years after prosecutors first accused him of illegally funneling campaign money.

DeLay was indicted in 2005 on charges that he illegally sent $190,000 in corporate money through the Republican National Committee to help elect GOP Texas legislative candidates in 2002. He pleaded not guilty to money laundering and conspiracy charges and says he has done nothing wrong.

"I've been asking for a trial now for five years. Finally I'm getting a trial," DeLay said outside the courtroom in Austin after the judge's decision.

Senior Judge Pat Priest did not set a trial date but said DeLay would be tried before his co-defendants, noting that DeLay had been demanding a trial since his indictment.

Prosecutors said Tuesday that they'll press lesser charges of election code violations against co-defendants John Colyandro and Jim Ellis - essentially severing their cases from DeLay's.

Defense attorneys also asked that Priest throw out the charges against the three men, arguing that then-District Attorney Ronnie Earle did not act properly in seeking the indictments in 2005. The judge, who closed some of Tuesday's court sessions to the public because he said they dealt with secret grand jury proceedings, did not rule on the defense request. Earlier in the day, he rejected other motions to dismiss charges.

Five years ago, Priest did throw out a conspiracy charge against the three men on a legal technicality.

DeLay began pressing for an immediate trial in late 2005 to try to save his leadership post in Congress. He resigned in 2006 from the suburban Houston congressional seat in Sugar Land that he had held for two decades.

"This is a political maneuver by a rogue district attorney, and I had to leave Congress because of it. And if I'd have gotten my trial speedily like I think I'm entitled to, I may still be in Congress, and I may still be in the leadership in Congress," DeLay said.

He said his next goal is to get his trial moved to his home county, conservative Fort Bend in the Houston area, where he says he's more likely to get a fair jury than in liberal Austin.

The pretrial hearing continues Wednesday.

Defense attorneys argued that the indictments in Texas should be thrown out because of "outrageous government conduct."

- Associated Press