JACKSON (AP) — Sentencing has been delayed until at least September for a physician who pleaded guilty in May to bribing Mississippi’s former corrections commissioner.

U.S. District Judge Daniel Jordan delayed Dr. Carl Reddix’s hearing Tuesday, hours before its start. Defense lawyers won more time to argue about $1.27 million that prosecutors say Reddix should forfeit. Reddix also faces up to 10 years in prison and $250,000 in fines.

Evidence shows Reddix paid then-Commissioner Christopher Epps to secure prison medical contracts for his company, Health Assurance. Reddix paid Epps at least $170,000, with payments beginning at $6,000 monthly in 2012 and rising.