FORT WORTH, Texas -- Former Dallas Cowboys offensive lineman Nate Newton's sentencing on a federal drug trafficking charge has been delayed at his request, an associate of his attorney says.

Newton, 40, was scheduled to be sentenced next week by U.S. District Judge Barbara M.G. Lynn in Dallas federal court. The sentencing will now be delayed until Aug. 14, said Rick Landry, an associate of defense attorney Steven Rozan.

In April, Newton pleaded guilty to the drug trafficking charge after accepting a plea agreement.

He could face up to 20 years and/or up to a $1 million fine on the conspiracy charge. The judge will determine the penalty. Rozan said in April that he expects Newton will serve up to 30 months with credit for time served.

Landry says the delay gives Rozan additional time to try to persuade Louisiana officials to allow Newton to serve sentences concurrently.

"That's being worked on now,'' Landry told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram in Friday's editions.

Newton, who lives in East Ellijay, Ga., is a six-time Pro Bowl offensive lineman who helped the Dallas Cowboys win three Super Bowls. He spent 14 seasons in the NFL, 13 with Dallas. He retired in March 2000 after a season with the Carolina Panthers.

Newton is starting his eighth month in a low-security detention center in Seagoville, a southeast Dallas suburb, where he has been since his Dec. 12 arrest.

Authorities arrested Newton in Ellis County after they found $10,000 in Newton's red pickup as well as 175 pounds of marijuana in the trunk of an accompanying Monte Carlo driven by Charles Deaundra Howard, 25, of Garland. The marijuana was worth an estimated $700,000.

At time of his Texas arrest, Newton was free on bail from a Louisiana drug bust in St. Martin Parish. He was arrested Nov. 4 and accused of driving a van on Interstate 10 with 213 pounds of marijuana in it.