A California federal judge on Friday scheduled a re-trial in Michael Avenatti’s wire fraud case for July 5, while directing prosecutors to inquire about the possibility of Avenatti participating in his upcoming sentencing in New York via video to save weeks of travel time.

“It’s not clear to me why it’s going to take you until the end of June to get back here if the sentencing there is on June 2,” Senior U.S. District Judge James Selna told Avenatti, who called into the hearing via phone from federal prison near Long Beach.

Senior U.S. District Judge James Selna, of the Central District of California in Santa Ana, CA. Photo: Jamie Rector for ALM