HARRISBURG - A federal judge granted a request to delay the trial of eight defendants, including two Ranshaw men, accused of operating a synthetic drug ring.
Chief Judge Yvette Kane, U.S. Middle District Court, on Tuesday rescheduled the trial of Jaswinder Fatra, 41, Slimane Belabbas, 34, and the others from June 4 to July 9, when jury selection is to begin.
Pre-trial motions, which were due Monday, are now due June 11.
Also charged in the case are Kulwinder Singh Grewal, 38, of Myerstown; Amarjit Singh Grewal, 32, of Ephrata; Jesse Roldan, 40, of Jim Thorpe; Steven Accardi, 30, of Willow Street, Lancaster County; Baljeet Singh, 42, of Lancaster; and Inderjit Jassal, 31, of Richfield.
A federal grand jury indicted the eight in April. They're accused of trafficking synthetic drugs at multiple mini-marts in Dauphin, Cumberland, Lebanon, Mifflin and Lancaster counties.
Northumberland County was not listed in the indictment. However, a spokeswoman from the U.S. Attorney's Office of the Middle District of Pennsylvania said that a November 2011 raid at the Mount Royal Mini-Mart in Ranshaw, a Sunoco station, was associated with the indictment.
All eight defendants have pleaded "not guilty" to multiple drug-related charges.