SYRACUSE - Attorney Paul Carey said Thursday afternoon's sentencing conference with a federal court judge to discuss the pending sentencing of a Cayuga County employee who has admitted to illegally removing asbestos from a county building last year is nothing out of the ordinary.

John Chick, who has been suspended from his job as a county carpenter, was scheduled to be sentenced Thursday in U.S. District Court in front of Judge Frederick Scullin Jr. However, the sentencing was adjourned for the second time and has been rescheduled. Carey said that a new hearing date would probably be set during the conference but Carey didn't return phone calls Thursday afternoon.

Carey, representing Chick, still met with Scullin in his chambers for a private conference Thursday afternoon to discuss the upcoming hearing. Carey explained that sentencing conferences are routine in court cases.

As Carey and Chick sat waiting for the conference to begin in the chamber's lobby, a district court employee confirmed that all chamber meetings are private.

"We're meeting to discuss the issues that will be discussed during the hearing," Carey said.

Chick could face up to five years in prison and three years of supervised release when he is sentenced. His plea conditions include cooperating with the prosecution and undertaking restitution to the victims of the Clean Air Act violation.

Read the full report in Friday's edition of The Citizen.