Jury selection in the drug distribution trial of Katoe Wardell Harris Sr. is expected to commence Monday but a motion to continue the proceedings until that date indicates that discussions of a plea agreement are also underway.

The attorney for Harris, who was charged in a three-count federal indictment, noted that one of the factors for the continuance was the birth of his second child and that the child will require medical attention after the birth.

The motion for continuance also noted that Harris’s attorney, Michael C. Fitzpatrick, and the government are in plea negotiations and that additional time is needed to continue those discussions.

United States District Judge Terrence W. Boyle granted the motion for continuance.

In September Harris pleaded not guilty to the charges. Boyle accepted Harris’s not guilty plea.

The trial will be held at the United States Courthouse in Elizabeth City.

Harris was named in a three-count federal indictment based on a Halifax County Sheriff’s Office investigation which led to his local arrest in January in Roanoke Rapids.

In count one of the indictment the federal grand jury charges that Harris possessed with the intent to distribute crack. Count two charges that he possessed a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime. Count three charges that he had previously been convicted of a crime and knowingly possessed a firearm that was used in affecting commerce.

The indictment says that count one was committed after a prior felony conviction for a felony drug offense.