Opinion
2:15-cr-00285-APG-EJY-2
04-05-2022
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff, v. BENJAMIN GALECKI, Defendant.
CHRISTOPHER CHIOU Acting United States Attorney, DANIEL D. HOLLINGSWORTH Assistant United States Attorney RENE L. VALLADARES Federal Public Defender, AMY B. CLEARY Assistant Federal Public Defender WENDI L. OVERMYER Assistant Federal Public Defender, Attorneys for Benjamin Galecki
CHRISTOPHER CHIOU Acting United States Attorney, DANIEL D. HOLLINGSWORTH Assistant United States Attorney
RENE L. VALLADARES Federal Public Defender, AMY B. CLEARY Assistant Federal Public Defender WENDI L. OVERMYER Assistant Federal Public Defender, Attorneys for Benjamin Galecki
STIPULATION FOR EXTENSION OF TIME TO FILE DEFENDANT'S RESPONSE TO THE GOVERNMENT'S MOTION TO SUBSTITUTE AND FORFEIT PROPERTY (ECF NO. 582) (TENTH REQUEST)
Defendant Benjamin Galecki, by counsel, requests the current April 11, 2022, deadline for Mr. Galecki's Response to the Government's Motion to Substitute and Forfeit Property be extended by 60 days, with the deadline reset for June 10, 2022.
Having obtained consent to resolve this matter on terms satisfactory to both Mr. Galecki and co-defendant Burton Ritchie and negotiated those terms at length with government counsel, counsel for Mr. Galecki and Mr. Ritchie are still awaiting final approval from the government on the most recent revised draft of that stipulated agreement.
Specifically, counsel for Mr. Galecki and Mr. Ritchie and the government reached a preliminary agreement on most material matters but have been waiting since February 8, 2022 for government counsel's supervisors, the Department of the Treasury, and the Internal Revenue Service to comment on the language contained in that agreement. Without input from those sources, government counsel advises he is without authority to move forward. Although the government process is not completed, the government changed the proposed preliminary agreement with more government levels to review. Until the process is completed and the changed preliminary agreement is returned to the defense counsel for their and their clients' reviews, government counsel has no authority to sign it.
As such, additional time is necessary to receive comment from government counsel's supervisors, the Department of the Treasury, and the Internal Revenue Service on the preliminary agreement and to communicate any such comments to Messrs. Galecki and Ritchie and counsel for Stephanie Ritchie before the preliminary agreement may be presented to the Court.
Given the continued significant progress in negotiating resolution of the motion to substitute and to forfeit, which if successful will negate the need for Mr. Galecki to file a Response, Mr. Galecki requests an extension of time to file the Response. In the event negotiations fail, Mr. Galecki will file Response to the Government's Motion to Substitute and Forfeit Property (ECF No. 582), or present his own proposed forfeiture order for the Court's consideration.
Counsel does not make this request for purposes of delay but acts with diligence and for the purpose of resolving the final forfeiture order in an efficient manner without extended litigation and without unnecessarily taxing judicial resources.
Mr. Galecki thus respectfully requests a 60-day extension of his Response, and government counsel AUSA Daniel Hollingsworth advises he does not object to this 60-day extension.
This is the tenth request for an extension of time.
Order Resetting Deadline for Defendant's Response to the Government's Motion to Substitute and Forfeit Property (ECF No. 582)
IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that the current April 11, 2022, deadline for Defendant's Response to the Government's Motion to Substitute and Forfeit Property (ECF No. 582) is vacated, extended by 60 days, and reset for June 10, 2022, by which Mr. Galecki shall either submit his Response and any other filing he deems appropriate or a signed stipulation by all the relevant parties resolving the forfeiture issues.