DECISION AND ORDER INTRODUCTION Defendant Robert Morgan (“Morgan”) has filed a motion for contempt (Dkt. 469) pursuant to this District’s Local Rule of Civil Procedure 83.4 and the Court’s inherent authority, related to the government’s commencement of a civil forfeiture action shortly after the dismissal of the Superseding Indictment in this case on statutory speedy trial grounds. Morgan contends that the government’s commencement of the civil forfeiture action violated the terms of two stipulated orders: (1) a Stipulated Order entered October 23, 2019 (Dkt. 132 (hereinafter “the October 2019 Stipulated Order”); and (2) a Stipulated Order entered February 21, 2020 (Dkt. 260 (hereinafter “the February 2020 Stipulated Order”)). Because the standard for contempt has not been satisfied, the Court denies Morgan’s motion. BACKGROUND Morgan and certain co-defendants were charged by way of a 114-count Superseding Indictment returned by a federal grand jury on May 21, 2019, with a scheme spanning over a decade to defraud financial institutions and government-sponsored enterprises Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae in connection with the financing of multi-family residential apartment properties managed by Morgan Management, LLC, and owned by various limited liability companies controlled by Morgan, as well as a related insurance fraud scheme charged against Morgan and his son and co-defendant, Todd Morgan, spanning a more limited time period. (Dkt. 42). On October 8, 2020, the Court issued a Decision and Order dismissing the Superseding Indictment in the above-captioned matter without prejudice on the ground that the statutory speedy trial clock had expired.1 Less than a week later, the government commenced a civil forfeiture action against joint venture units (“JV Units”) and distributions held by Morgan and certain family members in the Morgan Properties King of Prussia Joint Venture LLC (“MP KofP JV LLC”) traceable to four real properties that were contributed to MP KofP JV LLC. See Complaint, United States v. Any and All Joint Venture Units and Distributions to Morgan Interest Holders Held in the Morgan Properties King of Prussia Joint Venture, Traceable to the Following Real Properties which were Contributed to such Joint Venture: 597 Collins Street, Avon, New York, known as Avon Commons, et al., No. 1:20-cv-01484-EAW,2 Dkt. 1 (W.D.N.Y. Oct. 14, 2020). The four real properties had been named in forfeiture allegations in the now-dismissed Superseding Indictment and are as follows: (1) 597 Collins Street, Avon, New York, known as Avon Commons; (2) 10100 Kettlecreek Drive, Cranberry Township, Pennsylvania, known as Rochester Village Apartments at Park Place; (3) 2000 Pebbleview Drive, Victor, New York, known as the Villas of Victor; and (4) 1700 Patrick Place, South Park Township, Pennsylvania, known as Park Place of South Park (hereinafter collectively “the Four Properties”). Contemporaneously with the filing of the Collins Street JV Action, the government submitted to the Clerk of Court a blank arrest warrant in rem (Collins Street JV Action, Dkt. 1-2), which was completed by the Clerk of Court and returned to the United States Attorney’s Office for the Western District of New York (hereinafter “USAO-WDNY”) (Dkt. 491 at
7, 10; see Collins Street JV Action, Dkt. Entry dated 10/15/2020 & Dkt. 27-1). On October 21 and 22, 2020, the USAO-WDNY served the arrest warrant in rem on various parties including Morgan. (Dkt. 491 at 10; see Collins Street JV Action, Dkt. 6 & Dkt. 7). At the same time that it obtained the arrest warrant in rem, on October 15, 2020, the USAO-WDNY emailed to the undersigned’s chambers an ex parte application for a restraining order of the JV Units and distributions traceable to the Four Properties pursuant to 18 U.S.C. §983(j)(1)(A). (See Collins Street JV Action, Dkt. 3). The next day, the undersigned denied the request for a restraining order without prejudice, reasoning that the government had not established that it would be proper for “this Court to provide ex parte relief with no showing of exigency and in the absence of a pending indictment, or that it would be proper to presume that probable cause from the now dismissed criminal matter would carry forward without restriction to any future civil matters involving the [Four] Properties.” (Id., Dkt. 5 at 5). The government never renewed that motion for a restraining order. Instead, as noted above, on October 21 and 22, 2020, it served the arrest warrant in rem. On October 29, 2020, Morgan filed the instant motion for an order of contempt. (Dkt. 469). Morgan argues that the government’s commencement of the Collins Street JV Action violated the October 2019 and February 2020 Stipulated Orders. In October 2019, the parties entered into a stipulation that was filed in the above-captioned matter and so ordered by the Court. (Dkt. 132). The purpose of the October 2019 Stipulated Order, along with a comparable Stipulated Order entered at the same time in a pending civil forfeiture action against certain real property (see Stipulation and Order, United States of America v. 7405 Morgan Road, Liverpool, New York et al. No. 1:19-cv-01157-EAW,3 Dkt. 26 (W.D.N.Y. Oct. 24, 2019)), was to effectuate a transaction involving the contribution of properties (including the Four Properties) to MP KofP JV LLC. (Dkt. 132 at 3). The October 2019 Stipulated Order provided that the government would dismiss the forfeiture allegations in the Superseding Indictment against the Four Properties, and the JV Units received in exchange for those properties4 would instead be subject to the forfeiture allegations in the Superseding Indictment. (Id. at
