A federal judge has rescheduled for Jan. 17 a hearing to determine how much restitution a Vicksburg attorney convicted in a federal investigation of false diet drug settlement claims in Mississippi will have to pay.

The hearing was originally set for Wednesday.

In October, attorney Robert Arledge was convicted of seven counts of conspiracy and wire fraud in a scam bilking the drug company Wyeth out of more than $6.7 million. He was sentenced to 6 1/2 years in prison. He was ordered to immediately pay $375,000 and the hearing was to center on further orders on repaying the $6.71 million he was convicted of appropriating.

U.S. District Judge David Bramlette signed an order granting the delay, saying both the government and Arledge had requested that the restitution hearing be continued.

Arledge had been charged with knowingly allowing clients to make claims of about $250,000 each even though they had no legitimate reason.

Fen-Phen was a prescription diet drug pulled from the market in 1997 after research revealed it could cause heart problems.

The indictment listed goods and services it says Arledge bought using funds obtained fraudulently from the settlement trust created to pay claims to people who took the medicine. FBI agents swarmed Arledge’s home in Vicksburg following the indictment, while he was away, and seized some of his property.

To start the prison term, Arledge is to surrender to federal authorities before noon on Jan. 7.