Keating Seeks 90-Day Delay in Sentencing : Courts: Action is based on hiring of criminologist to prepare a pre-sentence report for the judge and probation officer.

Charles H. Keating Jr., convicted last month on 17 counts of state securities fraud, wants to delay his Superior Court sentencing for 90 days.

Lawyers for the former owner of Irvine-based Lincoln Savings & Loan said in court papers filed last week that a criminologist has been retained to work on a pre-sentence report that would be given to the court and to Keating’s probation officer.

The criminologist, Sheila Balkan of Santa Monica, said in an affidavit accompanying the delay request that she would need at least 90 days of intensive work with Keating to prepare a comprehensive social profile.

But when contacted Monday, Balkan said she wasn’t sure yet just what her role would be. “I’m not a probation officer,” she said. As a consultant to lawyers, she said, she does prepare reports on defendants. But she declined to discuss the matter further.

Balkan holds a doctorate in sociology from UCLA.

Prosecutors object to any delay in the scheduled Feb. 7 sentencing of Keating. Judge Lance A. Ito, who presided over the trial, will hear arguments Wednesday on Keating’s request for a May 7 sentencing.

Keating, 68, was convicted of defrauding small investors who bought risky bonds issued by Lincoln’s parent company, American Continental Corp. in Phoenix. The investors, mostly elderly Lincoln customers, lost more than $250 million after Keating’s financial empire collapsed in April, 1989.

Any delay in sentencing isn’t expected to postpone a hearing on defense attorney Stephen C. Neal’s request for a new trial. Ito is scheduled to hear arguments on that motion Feb. 7.

Keating was indicted last month by a federal grand jury in Los Angeles on conspiracy, bank fraud and racketeering charges. And he was indicted last week by a federal grand jury in Phoenix on bankruptcy fraud charges.