Federal fraud case for Arkansan delayed for time to review data

FORT SMITH — The jury trial for a western Arkansas man charged with more than a dozen federal crimes has been rescheduled for Sept. 12.

U.S. District Judge P.K. Holmes signed an order Monday rescheduling Billy Joe Taylor’s jury trial, which had been scheduled for Jan. 10.

Taylor, 43, of Lavaca pleaded innocent during his Nov. 23 arraignment to 16 charges of health care fraud and one charge of money laundering. U.S. Magistrate Judge Mark E. Ford said Taylor faces up to 10 years in prison for each count if found guilty, in addition to fines.

Taylor was indicted Nov. 2, according to court records.

John Wesley Hall, one of the attorneys representing Taylor, filed an unopposed motion Friday to continue the trial, court records show. The complexity of the case, the magnitude of discovery and the likelihood of a superseding indictment that will add counts — or possibly co-defendants — prompted the request, according to the motion.

The parties involved in the case discussed trial issues via conference call Dec. 6, the motion states. The government said during the call that it estimates there are three terabytes of data it will share with the defense, according to the motion.

“That’s hundreds of thousands of pages,” the motion states. “Their own estimate is that it would take nine months for one person to read it all. No matter how many read it, the information has to be collated and shared amongst the defense lawyers.”

The motion proposed continuing the trial to spring 2023.

Taylor was released May 26 on a $100,000 secured bond with conditions of release after being charged by criminal complaint that same month.

Taylor has a hearing regarding the conditions of his release scheduled for 10 a.m. Monday in Fort Smith.