Despite delay request, Black ordered to report to federal prison Monday

RALEIGH (AP) -- A federal judge has ordered former House Speaker Jim Black to begin serving his sentence Monday as scheduled.

That decision rejects Black's request that he start his five-year sentence in September.

Black was sentenced earlier this month for accepting $25,000 in cash from chiropractors. He had asked US District Court Judge Terrence Boyle to let him begin serving his sentence no sooner than September Tenth.

Federal prosecutors did not oppose the delay. They said the US Bureau of Prisons may need more time to get a bed ready for the Mecklenburg County Democrat.

But Boyle is ordering Black to surrender to federal marshals by two p.m. Monday. Boyle agreed to recommend Black go to the federal prison in Butner, about 35 miles north of Raleigh.

(Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)