Judge Mark Jones, giving what he told public defenders was "more than ample time," has set Oct. 18 as the firm date for former Adult Education Coordinator Monique Acevedo to stand trial for allegedly stealing $180,334 in cash deposits from her department.

Acevedo will be tried on two other charges -- for alleged credit card fraud and theft of fundraising money from the class of 2012 -- shortly after that, Jones said. Those trial dates were to be determined later.

At a hearing Thursday afternoon in Key West, Jones also set deadlines for discovery, depositions and declaring new witnesses to ensure the October trial date is kept. Acevedo faces three counts of first-degree felony fraud and theft in the first trial.

Jones made it clear that he does not blame Public Defender Trish Docherty for asking for more time to build Acevedo's defense. She told Jones she has more witnesses to depose.

"These are serious crimes that expose [Acevedo] to 60 years under state statute," Jones said. "I've overseen comparable cases and seen how they progress, and this is not an inordinate amount of time or more time than cases like these take."

Working backward from Oct. 18, Jones set deadlines for depositions and other trial preparation for prosecutor Mark Wilson and Docherty to follow.

Though Wilson said Thursday he was ready to go to trial, Docherty told Jones she still had witnesses to interview, namely former Finance Director Kathy Reitzel and State Attorney investigator Andrew Kempel. She also still must depose Adult Education employees who have said under oath -- in the trial of her husband, suspended Schools Superintendent Randy Acevedo -- that they handed cash payments from students to Acevedo.

Docherty told Jones she also will have an expert review financial records that the prosecution is hoping will lead to a conviction.

She told The Citizen that as public defender, she's got a heavy caseload, with two murder cases, including defending Pablo Solano Jimenez, accused of killing Tracy Heshmaty Monday.

Docherty told Jones that her defense of Acevedo will be a full-office effort.

She brought up the possibility of relocating the trial, but Jones said that would be determined after the court tries to pick a fair and impartial jury during the first days of the trial.

Though the defense and prosecutors have discussed a plea deal, Docherty is preparing for trial and Wilson demurred when Jones asked him if he wanted to set a deadline for deals.

"No, thank you, your honor," Wilson said.

jguerra@keysnews.com