SAN DIEGO -- The trial of a reputed leader of the Arellano-Felix drug cartel should begin next April or May, a judge overseeing the case said Monday.

U.S. District Judge Larry Burns granted a defense motion to declare the case against Javier Arellano-Felix "complex."

A status conference was scheduled for Oct. 30.

According to defense attorney David Bartick, prosecutors have started the process of submitting paperwork to federal officials in Washington, D.C., that is required if they want to seek the death penalty against Arellano-Felix.

If prosecutors decide to seek death -- the judge urged them to let him know of their decision before Dec. 1 -- it would change the entire complexion of the case, Bartick said.

"It is important to me to find out at the earliest possible date," the defense attorney said.

Arellano-Felix was captured Aug. 14 on a fishing boat in international waters off the coast of Cabo San Lucas and brought to San Diego to face federal charges.

He and 11 other alleged high-ranking members of the cartel were indicted in federal court in San Diego in July 2003 on charges of importing and distributing drugs into the United States.

The indictment alleges that the Arellano-Felix organization negotiated with Colombian cocaine traffickers to buy tons of cocaine, and then arranged to have it smuggled into the United States.

The organization recruited bodyguards and assassins who killed rival drug traffickers, informants and Mexican law enforcement and military personnel, as well as members of the news media, the government alleges.

The indictment accuses the cartel of carrying out 20 murders in the United States and Mexico.

Javier Arellano-Felix and two of his brothers, Benjamin and Eduardo, were charged in December 2003 with conducting an illegal enterprise through a pattern of racketeering activity, conspiring to import and distribute cocaine and marijuana, and money laundering.

The oldest brother in the family, 56-year-old Francisco Rafael Arellano-Felix, was extradited from Mexico to San Diego last month. He pleaded not guilty to charges that he sold cocaine to an undercover agent at a Midway Drive hotel 26 years ago.

Another brother, Ramon Arellano-Felix, considered the cartel's enforcer, was killed in a shootout with police in 2002. Benjamin Arellano-Felix was arrested a few weeks later, and Eduardo Arellano-Felix is still at large.