Harding sentencing rescheduled

File photo: Former Rep. Joe Harding speaks during the Marion County Delegation at the Klein Conference Center at the College of Central Florida in Ocala, Fla. on Thursday, Oct. 7, 2021. [Bruce Ackerman/Ocala Gazette] 2021.

A federal judge has scheduled an Oct. 19 hearing to sentence former state Rep. Joe Harding, an Ocala Republican who pleaded guilty in March to charges of wire fraud, money laundering and making false statements in a scheme to fraudulently obtain business loans during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Harding had been scheduled to be sentenced Monday, but U.S. District Judge Allen Winsor last week postponed the hearing because of a closure of the federal courthouse in Gainesville. An order said the courthouse would not be open because of “water intrusion and power and mechanical issues.”

A notice posted on a court docket said the Oct. 19 hearing is slated to be held in Gainesville. Harding resigned from the House after he was indicted in December.