Book Richardson scheduled to appear in court Thursday, the latest step in ongoing federal trial

Former Arizona Wildcats assistant basketball coach Emanuel "Book" Richardson is scheduled for a status conference in a New York City federal courtroom on Thursday, the latest step in the FBI's ongoing corruption trial against him. 

Richardson is scheduled for a 2:30 p.m. (EST) appearance. It's unclear if Richardson, who has been living in Tucson since his Sept. 26 arrest on bribery and fraud charges, is required to appear. Richardson is facing charges of conspiracy to commit bribery, solicitation of bribes by an agent of a federally funded organization, conspiracy to commit honest services fraud, wire fraud conspiracy and travel act conspiracy. Richardson is accused of, among other things, bribing a prominent recruit to commit to Arizona. The player, Jahvon Quinerly, decommitted from the UA shortly after Richardson's arrest. He chose a new school, Villanova, on Tuesday. 

If convicted, Richardson — Sean Miller’s longest-tenured assistant coach at the time of his arrest — could face up to 60 years in prison and pay up to $1.5 million in fines. Richardson is one of four prominent college basketball coaches implicated in the federal case.

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After Richardson's Sept. 26 arrest, the University of Arizona announced it would be conducting an internal investigation, and the NCAA is expected to do the same. Richardson was formally terminated late last month.

Richardson's scheduled appearances comes on the same day that Arizona is scheduled to face rival Arizona State in Tempe. The 17th-ranked Wildcats and 25th-ranked Sun Devils are both expected to qualify for this year's NCAA Tournament regardless of the outcome.