Attorneys representing a former podiatrist in a $5 million civil lawsuit are asking the court to continue the trial slated to begin Aug. 26.

The reason is so their client, Carey Craig Williams, can attend the trial since he’s expected to be released from prison in November.

Williams was arrested in 2021 on charges of attempt and conspiracy to commit fraud in a scheme that federal prosecutors say cost taxpayers millions of dollars.

In the wide-reaching case, the government prosecuted three doctors – Williams, Marion Shaun Lund and Jared Lee Spicer – and one pharmaceutical company sales rep, former Ole Miss baseball player Hunter Power.

Williams was sentenced in May 2023 to serve 43 months in prison.

One of the victims of the fraud, Peggy Jean Parker, filed a $5 million lawsuit against Williams and his then-clinic, North Mississippi Foot Specialists, for performing unnecessary testing and procedures for foot and toenail issues.

A hearing on the Motion to Continue will be heard at the Lafayette County Circuit Court in Oxford on July 15.