After a five-year investigation followed by three years of court proceedings, former Miami-Dade Commissioner Joe Martinez will be sentenced next month for corruption charges on which he was convicted last year.

He was expected to be sentenced Thursday, but Judge Miguel de la O delayed it until Sept. 15, three days before Martinez’s 68th birthday.

De la O indicated that he was inclined to hand down a sentence lighter than the prosecution sought, but advised Martinez to nevertheless temper his expectations.

“If this is not a case where I’m not able to (be lenient),” he said, “then I’m not sure there are many cases (where I could do so).”

Jurors found Martinez, a former county police lieutenant who won five terms on the County Commission and served twice as its Chair, guilty in November

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