Federal prosecutors won a hard-fought victory Wednesday in the high-profile criminal case involving the takeover of Las Vegas valley homeowners associations.

U.S. District Judge James Mahan ordered a seven-month delay in the March 3 trial of 10 defendants charged in the massive scheme. But the delayed trial date is still well ahead of the 2015 time frame defense lawyers wanted.

The case is now set to go before a jury on Oct. 6.

Former construction company boss Leon Benzer, the alleged mastermind, and his co-defendants are waiting to be tried on conspiracy and fraud charges in the multimillion-dollar scheme, which occurred between 2003 and 2009.

The conspirators are accused of stacking HOA boards to gain legal and construction defect contracts for themselves. Straw buyers were recruited to purchase condominiums at nearly a dozen developments around town and then elected to the HOA boards through bribery and rigged elections.  To read more:  http://www.reviewjournal.com/news/victory-prosecution-judge-sets-oct-6-trial-hoa-takeover-case