NORTH COUNTY - The sentencing of Randy Cunningham's co-conspirator, Mitchell Wade, will likely be delayed again, as the former defense contractor continues to cooperate with federal prosecutors in the ongoing investigation into the Cunningham bribery case, a spokesman for the U.S. attorney's office in Washington said Wednesday.

News of the possible delay came on the same day that a separate tentacle developed in the case that forced Cunningham to resign his longtime seat in Congress.

On Wednesday, U.S. Rep. Rahm Emanuel, D-Ill., wrote a letter to U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, urging him to name U.S. Attorney Carol Lam as outside counsel in the Cunningham case. Earlier this year, Gonzales asked Lam to resign from her appointed post, effective Feb. 15.

Lam's office was responsible for the successful investigation of Cunningham that led to his pleading guilty late last year to bribery and tax evasion. Lam's prosecutors also continue to investigate the former 50th District representative's co-conspirators.

Wade pleaded guilty in February 2006 to having bribed the now-imprisoned Cunningham with more than $1 million in a scheme to enrich himself through lucrative defense contracts. Wade faces up to 11 years in prison and remains free pending sentencing. He could have gotten up to 20 years, if not for a plea deal in which he promised to cooperate with prosecutors in their ongoing investigation.

In August, the U.S. attorney's office in Washington announced that it was postponing the presentencing hearing until early 2007 due to Wade's ongoing cooperation. And on Wednesday, Washington spokesman Channing Phillips said the hearing is likely to be put off for another six months, for the same reason.

"If he's going to get the full benefit of his cooperation, it makes no sense (to sentence him) before his cooperation ends," Phillips said in a Wednesday phone interview from his Washington office.

He said defense counsel and prosecutors generally work with the judge to negotiate decisions on whether to postpone a sentencing hearing.

Recent news stories reported that federal prosecutors are close to asking a San Diego federal grand jury to issue indictments against three other alleged co-conspirators in the Cunningham bribery case: Poway businessman and defense contractor Brent Wilkes; New York businessman Thomas Kontogiannis; and Kontogiannis nephew, John T. Michael.

When asked if Wade, who lives in the Washington area, has testified before the same San Diego grand jury, a source with intimate knowledge of the proceedings would only say he knew that Wade was in San Diego in early January. Grand jury investigations are secret.

Neither the Bush administration nor Gonzales have stated why Lam was asked to step down. On Wednesday, the Copley News Service reported that Lam had been targeted by members of Congress unhappy with the way she handled immigration enforcement cases.

In his letter to Gonzales, Emanuel implies that there may be more to the story of Lam's exit than illegal immigrants. In his letter, he reminded Gonzales that Lam was in the process of investigating whether or not the corruption involved other members of Congress or lobbyists, as well as current and former members of the national security apparatus.

"It is for this reason that the timing of her dismissal raises serious and troubling questions," Emanuel wrote.

"In fact, special agent in charge Dan Dzwilewski - the FBI's top official for San Diego - said, 'I guarantee politics is involved,' " Emanuel states in his letter to Gonzales.

- Contact staff writer William Finn Bennett at (760) 740-5426, or wbennett@nctimes.com.