HOUSTON (AP) - Defense attorneys are opposing a prosecutors' request to delay an order granting Texas billionaire R. Allen Stanford a bond that would free him until he is tried on charges he swindled investors out of $7 billion.

In a written motion responding to a prosecution motion, defense attorney Dick DeGuerin asked U.S. District Judge David Hittner to uphold a ruling a day earlier granting the accused financier a $500,000 bond. Hittner is presiding over Stanford's case.

Prosecutors argue Stanford is a flight risk but DeGuerin said those claims are overexaggerated and his client doesn't want to flee but clear his name.

(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)