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Memorandum Opinion and Order — Lola Kasali v. United States of America (Dkt. 501, S.D. Tex.)

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A memorandum opinion and order by Senior United States District Judge Sim Lake in Lola Kasali v. United States of America, Criminal Action No. H-21-54, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas, Houston Division, entered June 09, 2026. It addresses Magistrate Judge Palermo's report and recommendation of April 23, 2026 (Docket Entry No. 464) on revocation of supervised release, Kasali's objections (Docket Entry No. 484) and the government's response (Docket Entry No. 489). The court overrules Kasali's objections to the finding that she violated the terms of her supervised release, and denies as moot her objections to the recommended revocation and three-year sentence because it will hold a hearing to determine the remedy for the violations.

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Filed June 9, 2026 in Lola Kasali v. United States of America; one of 4 filings from this case.

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Court	U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas
Filed	2026-06-09

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“Memorandum Opinion and Order — Lola Kasali v. United States of America (Dkt. 501, S.D. Tex.).” U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas, No. 4:21-cr-00054, Doc. 501, filed 2026-06-09. Archived at Pandemic Darlings, https://pandemicdarlings.com/court-filings/lola-kasali-v-united-states-of-america/2026-06-09-memorandum-opinion-and-order-dkt-501/, SHA-256 8f024679b9f9ef0817827d489a6855857b31e93ad17e649911c3d84aaa26e6ee.

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Case 4:21-cr-00054 Document 501 Filed 06/09/26 in TXSD Page 1 of 16
United States District Court
Southern District of Texas

ENTERED
IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT June 09, 2026
FOR THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF TEXAS Nathan Ochsner, Clerk
HOUSTON DIVISION

LOLA KASALI, §
§
Plaintiff, §
§
v. § CRIMINAL ACTION NO. H-21-54
§
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, §
§
Defendant. §

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

The Court has carefully considered Magistrate Judge Palermo’s

Report and Recommendation (“Report and Recommendation”) (Docket

Entry No. 464), dated April 23, 2026, Defendant’s Objections to the

Magistrate Judge’s Report and Recommendation on Supervised Release

Revocation and Recommended Sentence at DE 464 (“Defendant’s

Objections”) (Docket Entry No. 484), and the Government’s Response

to Defense Objections to the Magistrate Judge’s Report and

Recommendation (DE 464) (“Government’s Response”) (Docket Entry

No. 489). For the reasons stated below, Kasali’s objections to

Magistrate Judge Palermo’s recommendation that the court find she

violated the terms of her supervised release will be overruled, and

Kasali’s objections to Magistrate Judge Palermo’s recommendations

that her term of supervised release be revoked that she be

sentenced to three years imprisonment will be denied as moot

because the court will conduct a hearing at which it will determine

an appropriate remedy for Kasali’s violations.

Case 4:21-cr-00054 Document 501 Filed 06/09/26 in TXSD Page 2 of 16

I. BACKGROUND

Pending before the court are the United States Probation

Office’s Petitions for Warrant or Summons for Offender Under

Supervision and Supplements to the Petition for Warrant or Summons

for Person Under Supervision dated October 28, 2025, December 9,

2025, and December 11, 2025 (Docket Entry Nos. 396, 413, and 414).

On December 1, 2025, the court entered an Order of Referral (Docket

Entry No. 411) referring the supervised release petition (Docket

Entry No. 396), and all pending motions and related matters to

Magistrate Judge Palermo. The petitions allege seven Grade C

violations:

(1) Failure to pay restitution as directed;

(2) Failure to follow U.S. Probation Officer’s
instructions;

(3) Failure to participate in mental health treatment;

(4) Failure to permit a U.S. Probation Officer to visit
at home or elsewhere;

(5) Failure to pay special assessment fee as directed;

(6) Incurring new credit charges without approval of
the Probation Officer; and

(7) Incurring or opening additional lines of credit
without approval of the Probation Officer.1

The Probation Officer recommended that Defendant’s supervision be

revoked.2

1
Report and Recommendation, Docket Entry No. 464, p. 7 (citing
Docket Entry Nos. 396, 413, and 414). Page numbers for docket
entries refer to the pagination inserted at the top of the page by
the court’s electronic filing system.
2
Id. at 10 (citing Docket Entry No. 414, p. 4).

Case 4:21-cr-00054 Document 501 Filed 06/09/26 in TXSD Page 3 of 16

At a revocation hearing held on March 4 and 9, 2026, the

Defendant did not plead true to any of the charges, but the

Government stated that the fifth charge of failure to pay the

special assessment was moot because Defendant paid it.3 The

Government called two witnesses to support the remaining charges:

United States Probation Officer Azuree Jackson, and United States

Postal Inspector Kyle Shadowence.4 At the close of the hearing,

the United States Probation Office recommended a sentence of three

(3) years imprisonment, with no term of supervised release

following release.5 The Government agreed with the Probation

Office’s recommendation. Kasali opposed the recommended sentence

and asked the court to allow her to remain on supervised release

but to assign her a different Probation Officer and require her to

obtain mental health treatment.6 Magistrate Judge Palermo

recommends that the court find Kasali violated the terms of her

supervised release by committing violations one, two, three, four,

six, and seven; that Kasali’s term of supervised release be

revoked, and she be sentenced to three (3) years imprisonment, to

be served concurrently for all violations, with credit for time

served in federal custody; and with no supervised release following

her release from prison.7

3
Id.
4
Id.
5
Id. at 21.
6
Id.
7
Id. at 21-22.

Case 4:21-cr-00054 Document 501 Filed 06/09/26 in TXSD Page 4 of 16

II. STANDARD OF REVIEW

District courts review de novo those portions of a Magistrate

Judge’s Report and Recommendation to which timely objections are

filed. 28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(1)(C); Fed. R. Crim. P. 59(b)(3). See

also United States v. Wilson, 864 F.2d 1219, 1222 (5th Cir.) (per

curiam), cert. denied, 109 S. Ct. 3243 (1989) (recognizing that de

novo review requires an independent “determination based upon the

record . . . unrestrained by the findings and conclusion of the

magistrate”). The district court judge “may accept, reject, or

modify, in whole or in part, the findings or recommendations made

by the magistrate judge.” 28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(1)(C). See also Fed.

R. Crim. P. 59(b)(3) (“The district judge may accept, reject, or

modify the recommendation, receive further evidence, or resubmit

the matter to the magistrate judge with instructions.”).

III. ANALYSIS

Kasali objects to Magistrate Judge Palermo’s recommendation

that her supervised release be revoked based on Grade C technical

violations and argues that the court should decline to adopt the

sentencing recommendation because

[e]ven if this Honorable Court accepts as accurate the
factual findings in the magistrate Judge’s Recommendation
that this Honorable Court impose the statutory maximum
term of 36months’ imprisonment on a defendant — appearing
on revocation for the first time — for exclusively
Grade C technical violations, is both substantively and
procedurally unreasonable.8

8
Defendant’s Objections, Docket Entry No. 484, pp. 2-3.

Case 4:21-cr-00054 Document 501 Filed 06/09/26 in TXSD Page 5 of 16

A. Magistrate Judge Palermo’s Recommended Finding that Kasali
Violated the Terms of Her Supervised Release Will be Adopted

Asserting that “[t]he record is replete with evidence that

Defendant has refused to allow her P[robation] O[fficer] to

supervise her,”9 Magistrate Judge Palermo recommends that the court

find Kasali violated the terms of her supervised release by

committing violations one, two, three, four, six, and seven.10 For

the reasons stated below the court will overrule Kasali’s

objections to the factual findings in Magistrate Judge Palermo’s

Report and Recommendation, and adopt the recommended findings.

1. Failure to Pay Restitution as Directed

Without disputing that she has failed to pay restitution as

directed, Kasali argues that Magistrate Judge Palermo’s recommended

finding that she “refused to pay restitution as ordered,”11

mischaracterizes that violation by “leading with the original

judgment amount of $2,027,686.64 and Defendant’s failure to make

monthly payments,”12 because “[o]n July 28, 2025, the Government

applied a credit of $1,937,500.00 from seized funds to Ms. Kasali’s

restitution balance . . . [making t]he remaining balance at the

time of the final revocation hearing . . . $90,186.64 — less than

9
Report and Recommendation, Docket Entry No. 464, p. 17.
10
Id. at 17-19, and 21.
11
Id. at 18. See also id. at 10-11.
12
Defendant’s Objections, Docket Entry No. 484, p. 6.

Case 4:21-cr-00054 Document 501 Filed 06/09/26 in TXSD Page 6 of 16

five percent of the original judgment.”13 Asserting that “[t]he

magnitude of an unpaid restitution balance is directly relevant to

assessing the willfulness and seriousness of the violation,”14

Kasali argues the Report and Recommendation fails to recognize that

[a] defendant who has had nearly $2 million seized and
applied to her restitution obligation, leaving a balance
of $90,186.64, and who is on supervised release with no
full-time employment income, is in a materially different
position than a defendant who has paid nothing against an
intact $2 million judgment.15

Kasali’s argument that the Report and Recommendation

mischaracterizes the restitution violation is not supported by the

record. The second sentence of the paragraph addressing the

restitution violation states that “[a]fter a credit of

$1,937,500.00 from funds that were seized, Defendant owed a balance

of $90,186.64.”16 The Report and Recommendation states that the

Probation Officer testified that although Kasali should have paid

$300.00 per month, she not only failed to make any payment, she

repeatedly said that she did not owe the money and that she would

not make any payments.17 Kasali does not dispute the truth of the

Probation Officer’s testimony on this issue. Kasali’s objection to

Magistrate Judge Palermo’s recommended finding that she refused to

pay restitution as ordered is OVERRULED.

13
Id. at 6-7.
14
Id. at 7.
15
Id.
16
Report and Recommendation, Docket Entry No. 464, p. 11.
17
Id.

Case 4:21-cr-00054 Document 501 Filed 06/09/26 in TXSD Page 7 of 16

2. Failure to Follow Probation Officer’s Instructions

Kasali objects to Magistrate Judge Palermo’s recommended

finding that she failed to follow her Probation Officer’s

instructions regarding employment because the Report and

Recommendation fails to account for the Probation Officer’s

testimony during cross-examination “that had she known . . .

Ms. Kasali was a student, the full-time employment condition would

have been waived.”18 Observing that the Report and Recommendation

acknowledges that before the Second Superseding Petition
was filed, Ms. Kasali had not informed her Probation
Officer that she was enrolled at the University of
Houston, and that after the petition was filed, she
represented that she was in school but did not provide
supporting documentation,19

Kasali argues that

if [she] was, in fact, a full-time student . . . then the
employment component of Violation 2 reflects a
communication failure and a documentation gap more than
a willful refusal to comply. This Court should find, or,
at a minimum, should adopt a finding that the record on
this violation is materially ambiguous.20

But missing from the record is any evidence that Kasali was, in

fact, a full-time student. Kasali’s objection to Magistrate Judge

Palermo’s recommended finding that she failed to follow the

probation officer’s instructions regarding employment is OVERRULED.

18
Defendant’s Objections, Docket Entry No. 484, pp. 7-8.
19
Id. at 8.
20
Id.

Case 4:21-cr-00054 Document 501 Filed 06/09/26 in TXSD Page 8 of 16

3. Failure to Participate in Mental Health Treatment

Asserting that she did not impede the mental health treatment

assessment, Kasali argues that she “appeared to her appointments as

requested and answered questions to some extent.”21 The Report and

Recommendation states that the Probation Officer testified that

although Kasali went to two mental health appointments, she did not

participate sufficiently for the therapists to be able to fully

assess her.22 Acknowledging that “[t]here were some subjects that

[she] declined to comment on,” Kasali argues that she “never

expressed unwillingness to return to the program,” and that “she

had not been provided with any follow-up appointments to continue

the process.”23 Because Kasali acknowledges that although the went

to her appointments, she declined to comment on some subjects,

Kasali’s objection to Magistrate Judge Palermo’s recommended

finding that she failed to participate in mental health treatment

is OVERRULED.

4. Failure to Permit Probation Officer Visits

Without disputing the Probation Officer’s testimony regarding

multiple failed attempts to complete unscheduled home visits with

her, Kasali argues that the Report and Recommendation

21
Id. at 9.
22
Report and Recommendation, Docket Entry No. 464, p. 12.
23
Defendant’s Objections, Docket Entry No. 484, p. 9.

Case 4:21-cr-00054 Document 501 Filed 06/09/26 in TXSD Page 9 of 16

mischaracterizes her noncompliance by failing to recognize that her

“conditions of supervision do not have a movement restriction

component[, and, therefore,] the notion that [she] is violating her

conditions of supervised release by not being present at her

dwelling during USPO Jackson’s unannounced visits cannot stand.”24

Acknowledging that “[t]he announced visits present a different

scenario,” Kasali argues that “[t]he Probation Office was able to

conduct all but one of her announced visits; in particular, on June

25, 2025. The rest of the visits transpired, albeit with

controversy, but in compliance with the conditions set forth in her

supervised release terms.”25 Because Kasali acknowledges both that

the Probation Officer was unable to conduct one scheduled visit,

and that although the other scheduled visits transpired, they

transpired with controversy, Kasali’s objection to Magistrate Judge

Palermo’s recommended finding that she failed to permit Probation

Officer home visits is OVERRULED.

6. Incurring New Credit Charges Without Approval

Kasali argues that the Report and Recommendation over

represents the alleged credit violations, but does not dispute that

she “obtained a credit card from Synchrony Bank — Amazon with a

credit limit of $150.00 [without her Probation Officer’s

24
Id. at 6.
25
Id.

Case 4:21-cr-00054 Document 501 Filed 06/09/26 in TXSD Page 10 of 16

approval].”26 Asserting that the Report and Recommendation does not

note the $150.00 credit limit,27 Kasali argues that “[t]his Court

should adopt a finding that accurately reflects the de minimis

nature of the Synchrony account in assessing the weight of

Violation[] 6 . . .”28 Kasali’s contention that the Report and

Recommendation does not accurately reflect the de minimis nature of

the Synchrony account is not supported by the record. The second

sentence of the paragraph addressing the credit violations states

that “[i]n December 2025, the probation office conducted a credit

check and discovered that Defendant had obtained a credit card from

Synchrony Bank — Amazon with a credit limit of $150.00.”29 Because

Kasali does not dispute that she did not have permission to open

the Synchrony Bank account, Kasali’s objection to Magistrate Judge

Palermo’s recommended finding that she incurred new credit charges

without approval is OVERRULED.

7. Incurring or Opening Additional Lines of Credit
Without Approval

The Report and Recommendation states that in addition to the

Synchrony Bank credit card,

26
Id. at 8.
27
Id.
28
Id. at 9.
29
Report and Recommendation, Docket Entry No. 464, p. 9.

Case 4:21-cr-00054 Document 501 Filed 06/09/26 in TXSD Page 11 of 16

probation discovered that Defendant had obtained at least
eight student loans from the Department of Education,
totaling $19,048.00. She did not have permission to
obtain these loans. She never informed her Probation
Officer that she was a student.30

Without disputing that she obtained at least eight student

loans from the Department of Education without permission from her

Probation Officer, Kasali argues that

the communication difficulties with her Probation Officer
. . . led to a misunderstanding of what financial actions
she is barred from engaging on without authorization.
Specifically USPO Jackson was not aware if Ms. Kasali
received money from those student loans, or, instead, if
the monies went directly to the educational institutions
to furnish payment for enrollment and materials. As a
result, Ms. Kasali believed that she was not engaging in
financial obligations when securing loans that were not
paid directly to her, but to the schools she was enrolled
in.31

Missing from the record is any supporting evidence showing either

that the loan proceeds went directly to the schools and not to

Kasali, or that Kasali was enrolled in school when she obtained the

loans. Because Kasali does not dispute that she obtained at least

eight student loans from the Department of Education, and that she

did not obtain her Probation Officer’s permission to secure those

loans, Kasali’s objection to Magistrate Judge Palermo’s recommended

finding that she incurred additional lines of credit without

approval is OVERRULED.

30
Id.
31
Defendant’s Objections, Docket Entry No. 484, p. 9.

Case 4:21-cr-00054 Document 501 Filed 06/09/26 in TXSD Page 12 of 16

B. Magistrate Judge Palermo’s Recommendation that Kasali’s
Supervised Release be Revoked and that She be Sentenced to
Three Years Imprisonment Will be Denied as Moot because the
Court Will Hold a Hearing to Determine an Appropriate Remedy

Kasali objects to Magistrate Judge Palermo’s recommended

sentence of three (3) years imprisonment to be followed by no term

of supervised release as procedurally and substantively

unreasonable. Kasali argues that the three-year imprisonment

recommendation is procedurally unreasonable because it fails to

consider Amendment 835 to the United States Sentencing Guidelines,

which took effect on November 1, 2025, and rewrote Chapter 7's

supervised release provisions.32 Kasali argues that

[u]nder [the] new § 7C1.3, the Commission established an
explicit, graduated framework for revocation decisions:
Grade A violations (new crimes of violence, firearms,
drug trafficking): revocation “generally appropriate.”
Grade B violations (other felonies): revocation “often
appropriate.” Grade C violations (misdemeanors and
technical noncompliance): revocation “may be appropriate”
— the lowest tier, explicitly discretionary.33

Kasali argues that the Report and Recommendation neither

acknowledges this framework, nor “explain[s] why, under the tiered

standard, revocation and imprisonment at the statutory maximum are

the appropriate responses to [her] specific violations . . . at

this time.”34 Asserting that 18 U.S.C. §§ 3553(a)(5) and 3583(e)

require the court to consider applicable policy statements, Kasali

32
Id. at 10.
33
Id. at 10-11.
34
Id. at 11.

Case 4:21-cr-00054 Document 501 Filed 06/09/26 in TXSD Page 13 of 16

argues that Amendment 835’s absence from the Report and

Recommendation “is a procedural error that this Court should

correct in adopting its own findings on sentence.”35

Kasali argues that Magistrate Judge Palermo’s recommended

sentence of three (3) years is substantively unreasonable because

it is grossly above the recommended guidelines sentence of three

(3) to nine (9) months for Grade C violations,36 and because Fifth

Circuit decisions upholding statutory maximum sentences that are

grossly above the guidelines range involve new criminal conduct or

multiple prior violations; i.e., circumstances that do not exist in

this case.37

Kasali cites Esteras v. United States, 145 S. Ct. 2031, 2041

(2025), in which the Supreme Court held that supervised release

“is not a punishment in lieu of incarceration.” . . .
Rather it “fulfills rehabilitative ends” and “provides
individuals with postconfinement assistance.” . . . So
when a defendant violates the conditions of his
supervised release, it makes sense that a court must
consider the forward-looking ends of sentencing
(deterrence, incapacitation, and rehabilitation), but may
not consider the backward-looking purpose of
retribution,38

Kasali argues that the Report and Recommendation’s

35
Id. at 12.
36
See USSG § 7C1.5.
37
Defendant’s Objections, Docket Entry No. 484, pp. 14-26
(citing cases).
38
Id. at 1-2 (internal citations omitted).

Case 4:21-cr-00054 Document 501 Filed 06/09/26 in TXSD Page 14 of 16

extended recitation of Ms. Kasali’s noncompliant behavior
— during pretrial supervision years before the violations
at issue, during the Faretta hearing, during interactions
with her Probation Officer — raises a substantial
question about whether the recommended sentence is an
exercise in permissible forward-looking sentencing or an
impermissible exercise in punishment for who Ms. Kasali
has been throughout this case. Esteras forbids the
latter, and this Court should ensure the sentence it
ultimately imposes is grounded exclusively in
permissible, forward-looking § 3553(a) factors.39

Finally, Kasali argues that the absence of any term of

supervised release following imprisonment requires independent

justification that the Report and Recommendation does not provide.40

Kasali explains that

[e]liminating the remaining supervision term entirely
means that when [she] is released she will receive no
transitional support, no monitoring, and no structured
assistance with reintegration. Given that the violations
at issue arose from Ms. Kasali’s difficulties navigating
the supervisory relationship, the appropriate response
may well be to restructure that relationship — a
different probation officer, clearer expectations,
targeted mental health treatment — rather than to
eliminate supervision entirely after extracting the
maximum prison term. The [Report and Recommendation]
offers no explanation for why the elimination of all
post-release supervision serves the permissible
sentencing goals applicable here. This Court should
decline to adopt that recommendation and should instead
impose an appropriate term of supervised release
following any period of imprisonment.41

Magistrate Judge Palermo’s Report and Recommendation correctly

states that “[t]he record is replete with evidence that Defendant

39
Id. at 24.
40
Id. at 26-27.
41
Id. at 27.

Case 4:21-cr-00054 Document 501 Filed 06/09/26 in TXSD Page 15 of 16

has refused to allow her P[robation] O[fficer] to supervise her,”42

cites cases supporting the recommendation to revoke Kasali’s

supervision, and cites the standards for crafting an appropriate

sentence.43 Since, however, Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure

32.1(b)(2)(E) and (c)(1) entitle Kasali to a hearing at which she

is able to make a statement and present any information in

mitigation, the court will hold a hearing to determine the

appropriate remedy for Kasali’s violations.

IV. CONCLUSIONS AND ORDER

For the reasons stated above in § III.B, Kasali’s objections

to the sentencing recommendations in Magistrate Judge Palermo’s

Report and Recommendation are DENIED as MOOT.

For the reasons stated above in § III.A, Kasali’s other

objections to Magistrate Judge Palermo’s Report and Recommendation

(Docket Entry No. 464) are OVERRULED. The court, therefore, ADOPTS

Magistrate Judge Palermo’s Report and Recommendation, and finds

that Kasali has violated the terms of her supervised release.

The court will conduct a hearing as to the appropriate remedy

for Kasali’s violations on Thursday, July 9, 2026, at 11:00 a.m.

The court will not permit argument or evidence from Kasali or

either counsel as to the correctness of any of the court’s rulings.

42
Report and Recommendation, Docket Entry No. 464, p. 17.
43
Id. at 20.

Case 4:21-cr-00054 Document 501 Filed 06/09/26 in TXSD Page 16 of 16

The sole purpose of the hearing is for the court to determine an

appropriate remedy for the violations established by the court's

adoption of Magistrate Judge Palermo's Report and Recommendation.

SIGNED at Houston, Texas, this 9th day of June, 2026.

SIM LAKE
SENIOR UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

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