ORDER GRANTING MOTION FOR ISSUANCE OF BENCH WARRANT FOR THE ARREST OF JUAN MANUEL LOZA

Re: Dkt. No. 45

HAYWOOD S. GILLIAM, JR., District Judge.

Pending before the Court is Plaintiffs' motion for the issuance of a bench warrant for the arrest of Defendant Juan Manuel Loza. See Dkt. No. 45. The Court finds this matter appropriate for disposition without oral argument and the matter is deemed submitted. See Civil L.R. 7-1(b). For the reasons discussed below, the Court GRANTS the motion and issues a bench warrant for Defendant's arrest.

I. BACKGROUND

Plaintiffs, trust funds organized under the Labor Management Relations Act of 1974, filed this action against Defendant in November 2017 for breaching a collective bargaining agreement. See Dkt. No. 1. Since that time, Defendant has consistently missed court-imposed deadlines and disobeyed court orders:

On August 15, 2018, the Court entered a mandatory injunction requiring Defendant to submit to an audit of specified records of Loza & Sons Construction. See Dkt. No. 31. The Court directed Defendant's immediate action. Id. at 2. However, Defendant failed to submit to the audit and provide the requisite documents. Consequently, on September 27, 2018, Plaintiffs filed a motion for an order to show cause why the Court should not hold Defendant in contempt and impose monetary sanctions against him. See Dkt. No. 38. Defendant did not explain why he was unable or unwilling to comply with the Court's order. See Dkt. No. 40 at 2. The Court, therefore, granted Plaintiffs' motion and ordered Defendant to appear in person before the Court on April 18, 2019. Id. Defendant did not appear at the show cause hearing, and the Court subsequently sanctioned Defendant and ordered him to pay Plaintiffs $1,897.50 for the attorneys' fees and costs that Plaintiffs incurred in preparing their motion. See Dkt. No. 43 at 2-3.

On May 9, 2019, Plaintiffs filed the pending motion for the issuance of a bench warrant for Defendant's arrest. See Dkt. No. 45. Plaintiffs explained that Defendant had still neither submitted to the audit, nor paid the monetary sanctions. See id. at 3; see also Dkt. No. 46 ¶ 2. Defendant's opposition to the motion was due by May 23, 2019. Yet again, Defendant did not meet this deadline.

II. ANALYSIS

To date, Defendant has not submitted all ordered documents and records for audit and has not paid Plaintiffs' the $1,897.50 in monetary sanctions. Defendant has also not appeared or made any attempt to explain his failure to abide by the Court's orders. Defendant's contempt, see Dkt. No. 43, has thus continued for over a year.

The Court "ha[s] the inherent power to enforce compliance with [its] lawful orders through civil contempt." Shillitani v. United States, 384 U.S. 364, 370 (1966). This includes the "power to punish by fine or imprisonment, or both, at its discretion, such contempt of its authority, and none other, as . . . [d]isobedience or resistance to its lawful writ, process, order, rule, decree, or command." 18 U.S.C. § 401(3) (emphasis added).

III. CONCLUSION

To compel compliance with the Court's audit and sanction orders, the Court GRANTS Plaintiffs' motion and ORDERS that a bench warrant for the arrest of Defendant Juan Manuel Loza be issued. The Clerk is DIRECTED to process the proposed warrant at Dkt. No. 47. The Court further ORDERS that Defendant shall be detained until this Court orders discharge from custody.

IT IS SO ORDERED.