COLUMBIA, S.C. - A federal judge has set a Jan. 24 trial date for Agriculture Commissioner Charlie Sharpe on charges of extortion, money laundering and lying to investigators about a cockfighting operation.

U.S. District Judge Cameron Currie also said Friday that the trial will be held before a federal jury drawn from across the state.

Federal prosecutor Mark Moore told Currie much of the trial's time will involve recordings from the undercover investigation.

It will probably take more than a week to put all the evidence before a jury, Moore said. Currie set aside two weeks of court time for the trial.

Sharpe was arrested, arraigned and released on a $100,000 bond on July 29. The charges came after a two-year investigation.

The indictment says Sharpe lied about an Aiken County cockfighting operation to an undercover officer working on an FBI and State Law Enforcement Division investigation. It also says Sharpe accepted at least $20,000 from the South Carolina Gamefowl Management Association in exchange for helping the group avoid legal trouble.

Sharpe, a Republican, served in the South Carolina House from 1985 until 2002 and chaired the Agriculture Committee. In 2002, Sharpe won election as agriculture commissioner.

Gov. Mark Sanford appointed an interim commissioner two weeks ago to run the Agriculture Department while Sharpe's case proceeds. A felony conviction would force Sharpe from office.