Morgan signed the agreement Tuesday, the day he pleaded guilty to a count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. The document entered the court record Wednesday.

In this separate pact, Morgan admits to no guilt or wrongdoing. The prosecutors, meanwhile, agree the deal ends their various efforts to seize his properties or assets.

The settlement sheds new light on the disposition of Morgan’s criminal case. His defense lawyers asserted that prosecutors were unable to bring the sweeping allegations contained in a 104-count indictment to trial, so they let him plead to a single felony with no jail time.

Still, Morgan was hit with a financial penalty in the millions.

Morgan’s defense lawyer Joel Cohen points out, however, that the government had been seeking hundreds of millions.

Morgan’s overall deal with the government – his guilty plea and the negotiated forfeiture of $16.3 million – are linked, Cohen said.

“The criminal and civil settlements are presented to the court for approval in their entirety,” he said. “If any part of those were not to be accepted by the court, Mr. Morgan reserves the right to withdraw from the entire deal.”

Prosecutors had sought hundreds of millions of dollars from Morgan through claims of criminal forfeiture and civil forfeiture. The $16.3 million settlement springs from a civil forfeiture proceeding initially focused on 13 Morgan properties – apartment complexes extending generally from the Rochester area, where Morgan is based, into central and northern New York.

In court papers, prosecutors contended the complexes could be seized because they were traceable to “specified unlawful activity,” including wire fraud and bank fraud. They said they could show that fictitious documents allowed Morgan’s companies to obtain loans on the properties they would not have been eligible for.

Morgan’s guilty plea involved none of the 13 properties. But with civil forfeiture, prosecutors need not prove a crime to take an asset.

While the case was pending, prosecutors dropped their claims on three of the properties that were sold to third parties and two that had negative value. The settlement signed Tuesday focused on the remaining eight apartment complexes named in the original civil forfeiture complaint.

The eight were among 94 properties Morgan sold to a similarly named but unrelated company in King of Prussia, Pa., Morgan Properties. As described in court papers, the transaction was complicated, involving an array of companies controlled by Robert Morgan or his son, Todd, the formation of a new joint venture company and the issuance of a type of shares.

The government had insisted Morgan’s proceeds be held in escrow, and the escrow amount related to the eight apartment complexes totaled $22.3 million, court papers show. Lawyers and Morgan then negotiated the sum to be turned over, $16.3 million.

Morgan reserved the right to withdraw his guilty plea for other reasons, chiefly if U.S. District Court Judge Elizabeth A. Wolford sentences Morgan to jail time on July 22, despite the agreement by prosecutors and Morgan lawyers to no time behind bars.

But, as Cohen explained, the plea agreement put before Wolford says Morgan “retains the right” to withdraw the plea if she doesn’t accept the forfeiture settlement. The terms of it, however, are not specified in that document.

Morgan owned around 36,000 apartment units in 14 states and was investing heavily in the Buffalo area when The Buffalo News first reported in September 2017 that federal agents were focused on his transactions. During his years-long legal troubles, he sold around half of his empire.

After pleading guilty Tuesday, Morgan, 65, left the federal courthouse in Rochester without speaking to reporters. He left it to Cohen to say what was next for him.

Said Cohen: Morgan intends to rebuild his company.