ORDER FOR CONTINUANCE

MICHAEL A. HAMMER, Magistrate Judge.

This matter having been opened to the Court by Craig Carpenito, United States Attorney for the District of New Jersey (Elaine K. Lou, Assistant United States Attorney appearing), and the defendant Lamont Fitzpatrick (Candace Horn, Esq., appearing), for an order granting a continuance of the proceedings in the above-captioned matter from the date this Order is signed through and including October 31, 2018, to permit defense counsel the reasonable time necessary for effective preparation in this matter and to allow the parties to conduct plea negotiations and attempt to negotiate a plea agreement, and the defendant being aware that the defendant has the right to have the matter submitted to a grand jury within thirty days of the date of the defendant's arrest, pursuant to Title 18, United States Code, Section 3161(b), and the defendant having consented to the continuance and waived such right, and this being the first request for a continuance in this matter, and for good cause shown,

IT IS THE FINDING OF THIS COURT that this action should be continued for the following reasons:

(1) Taking into account the exercise of diligence, the facts of this case require that defense counsel be permitted a reasonable amount of additional time for effective preparation in this matter;

(2) Plea negotiations are anticipated, and both the United States and the defendant desire additional time to negotiate a plea agreement, which would render any grand jury proceedings and any subsequent trial of this matter unnecessary;

(3) The defendant has consented to the above-referenced continuance; and

(4) As a result of the foregoing, pursuant to Title 18, United States Code, Section 3161(h)(7), the ends of justice served by granting the continuance outweigh the best interest of the public and the defendant in a speedy trial.

IT IS, therefore, on this 30th day of August, 2018,

ORDERED that this action be, and hereby is, continued from the date this Order is signed through and including October 31, 2018; and it is further

ORDERED that the period from the date this Order is signed through and including October 31, 2018, shall be excludable in computing time under the Speedy Trial Act of 1974.