A federal judge in Los Angeles set a Nov. 3 start for the stock options backdating trial of KB Home’s former chief executive, Bruce Karatz, over the objections of defense attorneys who said they need more time to prepare for the “complex case.”

Karatz, 63, faces up to 415 years in federal prison if convicted on all 20 counts in a March 6 indictment accusing him of awarding himself and others millions of dollars in undisclosed stock-based compensation over a seven-year period.

U.S. District Judge Otis Wright II said at Monday’s hearing that he wanted a trial date set, but would revisit pretrial progress at a July 13 hearing “to focus everyone’s mind.”

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