Three former Honolulu officials facing federal conspiracy charges may not get their day in court until October 2024.

Ex-city attorney Donna Leong, former managing director Roy Amemiya and former Honolulu Police Commission chair Max Sword stand accused of improperly executing a retirement payout to disgraced police chief Louis Kealoha in 2017.

At the time, Kealoha was on the brink of indictment on corruption charges, and city officials were eager to get him out of the Honolulu Police Department. But the feds say the officials needed City Council approval to grant the $250,000 severance. Circumventing the council, and trying to keep the deal quiet afterward, amounts to a crime, prosecutors say.

The defendants were indicted in January 2022. Scheduling conflicts necessitated the long continuance.

Judge Leslie Kobayashi is traveling later this summer and is undergoing a medical procedure this fall. And the prosecutor in the case, Michael Wheat, has trials scheduled in cases involving alleged crime boss Mike Miske in January and former prosecutor Keith Kaneshiro in February. Kobayashi is juggling other cases as well.

Amemiya objected to the prolonged delay and is considering severing himself from the other two defendants, according to court records. That matter is scheduled for a status conference on Friday.

Efforts by defense attorneys to get the charges dismissed have not been successful.