The Hill News

A federal judge has delayed the criminal trial of 2004 vice presidential candidate and former Sen. John Edwards (D-N.C.) until next year, according to The Associated Press. Edwards faces charges resulting from more than $1 million in undisclosed payments from political supporters to his mistress Rielle Hunter. Hunter was pregnant with Edwards’s child during his 2008 bid for the Democratic presidential nomination. 

Edwards’s defense lawyers said the proposed start date â€" during next month â€" would not give them adequate time to review the more than 400,000 pages of material turned over by prosecutors. 

Edwards’s multiple felony counts stem from both under-the-table payouts to Hunter and allegations by the government that he helped to falsify campaign finance reports to hide the payments. If convicted, Edwards could face up to 30 years in prison.

The government offered the former senator a plea bargain at the conclusion of its two-year investigation into the matter, but he balked after prosecutors insisted that he serve some prison time. Edwards is the sole caregiver of his young children after the passing of his wife, Elizabeth, last year, and said going to prison was a dealbreaker.

The trial is set to resume in January 2012.