Nearly eight months have passed since former Lawrence Mayor Jeremy Farmer was convicted of stealing from the food bank he led, and he has still not been sentenced for the crime.

The case is currently being held up by an incomplete pre-sentence investigation, which will affect the sentence he receives.

Pre-sentence investigations, which document previous criminal convictions, among other things, are conducted by Federal Probation and Pretrial Services, which is part of the federal court system.

On Sept. 28, 2016, Farmer pleaded guilty in a federal courtroom in Topeka to one felony count of transportation of stolen funds. The case came to light after it was revealed that Farmer had not paid more than $50,000 in federal and state payroll taxes on behalf of Just Food, a nonprofit Lawrence food bank where he worked as executive director.

The case has been in the court system since August of last year, when Farmer, 32, was charged — and there’s currently not an end in sight.

“It’s been a while,” said Whitney Novak, a law clerk in the office of U.S. District Judge Carlos Murguia, who handled Farmer’s case.

However, there isn’t a standard timeline for these types of cases, Novak noted; Probation and Pretrial Services will take as long as it needs to complete a thorough investigation.

Generally speaking, the more of a criminal history someone has, the harsher the sentence will be.

John Deters, a supervisor with Probation and Pretrial Services, said he could confirm the office received Murguia’s order for an investigation into Farmer’s criminal history around the same day Farmer entered his guilty plea. However, he would not say whether the investigation was complete.

Once the investigations are complete, they’re sent to the offices of the judges who handled the cases, Deters said. The judges’ offices are then responsible for scheduling a sentencing hearing.

As of Monday, Novak said Murguia’s office had not yet received any results from Probation and Pretrial Services.

Jim Cross, spokesman for Tom Beall, U.S. attorney for the District of Kansas, said in an emailed response to questions that the results of Farmer’s pre-sentence investigation will not be open to the public once the process is complete.

Farmer does not have a criminal history in Douglas County District Court, and aside from his conviction in September of last year he does not have any other convictions in Kansas’ federal court system.

When asked for comment Monday, Farmer’s attorney, John Cowles, hung up his phone. He responded in the same way when asked similar questions months earlier.

Depending on his criminal history, Farmer could face up to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000.

Farmer is not currently in custody. Murguia allowed him to remain free on a $5,000 bond. He did, however, have to surrender his passport.

Just Food, whose mission is to feed the hungry in Douglas County, hired Farmer in 2011. He resigned from that position and from his seat on the Lawrence City Commission in August 2015 after he was accused of stealing money from the nonprofit.

Initially, Farmer said his failure to pay Just Food’s payroll taxes was just an oversight.

Though Farmer’s conviction states that he stole more than $5,000, Just Food representatives have previously estimated that the actual amount of ill-gotten money was closer to $55,000.