HOUSTON, USA (Reuters) -- Allen Stanford's lawyers on Tuesday asked an appeals court for the second time to review a judge's decision denying the accused swindler bail.

Last month, US District Judge David Hittner in Houston issued an order denying pleas from Stanford's lawyers and family that he be released from jail due to his deteriorating mental and physical health.

Allen Stanford. Bloomberg photo

Stanford, 59, was first deemed a flight risk and denied bail by Hittner in June last year. The judge's initial decision was appealed and upheld by the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in New Orleans.

Stanford is in a federal detention center in Houston awaiting his January 2011 trial.

The Texas financier surrendered to authorities on June 18 after prosecutors charged him with leading a $7 billion Ponzi scheme centered on certificates of deposit issued by his offshore bank in Antigua.

Stanford's lawyers, Kent Schaffer and George Secrest, filed the latest appeal with the appellate court in New Orleans, court documents showed.