Ex-Islanders co-owner may try to withdraw plea

NEW YORK - A lawyer for a former part-owner of the New York Islanders says his client may try to withdraw his guilty plea after learning he would be sentenced to 20 years in prison.

Attorney Michael Tremonte abruptly ended a sentencing hearing Wednesday for 70-year-old Stephen Walsh, asking for time for Walsh to consider withdrawing his plea.

Federal Judge Miriam Goldman Cedarbaum gave Walsh until Tuesday to make that decision. Minutes earlier, the judge had announced that she intended to sentence him to 20 years in prison.

Walsh, of Sands Point, New York, pleaded guilty in April to participating in a 13-year fraud. Prosecutors say he misappropriated more than $50 million from investors for his own use. The investors included charitable and university foundations and pension plans.

Walsh is free on bail.