The federal trial of a Biddeford man charged with hate crimes in connection with two assaults in April 2018 has been delayed until Wednesday.

Neither federal prosecutors or the public defender’s office would say why the trial of Maurice Diggins was postponed. The federal court clerk’s office said it wasn’t provided with a reason for the one-day delay in the trial, which had been scheduled to begin with jury selection Tuesday.

Diggins is facing three counts in his trial – two for committing hate crimes in his alleged assaults on two black men in Portland and Biddeford, and a third count alleging conspiracy to commit hate crimes. Diggins is accused of participating in the assault of a black man outside an Old Port bar late on April 14, 2018, and then in the assault of another black man in Biddeford a few hours later. Both victims suffered broken jaws.

Diggins allegedly participated in the attacks with his nephew, Dusty Leo.

Leo has pleaded guilty to the conspiracy charge and one count of aiding and abetting a hate crime. He has agreed not to appeal his sentence if it is four years or less.

If convicted, Diggins could be sentenced to up to five years on the conspiracy charge and 10 years on each of the hate crime charges, along with fines of up to $250,000 for each of the counts and a term of supervised release of up to three years.