Stipulated Status Report — Passive Income Advisors, LLC, and Gena Lofton — District of Nevada, No. 2:20-cv-01537-RFB-MDC (Document 77)

Summary

A stipulated status report of the United States and the defendants in United States of America ex rel. Bryan Quesenberry v. Passive Income Advisors, LLC, and Gena Lofton, Case No. 2:20-cv-01537-RFB-MDC, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Nevada, Document 77, filed November 19, 2025. It responds to an October 17, 2025 order that vacated a November 14, 2025 settlement conference and directed a report on federal funding and the availability of a representative with settlement authority. The report states that the federal government budget has been funded through at least January 30, 2026, and that the Department of Justice has fully resumed operations. The United States and the defendants each ask to take part in a remote mediation through named attorneys, and the defendants note an October 29, 2025 settlement conference.

Summary drafted by a model from the document's text below and checked by script against that text before publication. It is a navigation aid, not a reading of what the document proves. Where AI is used

Document type: report
Date: 2025-09-11

Cite this document

“Stipulated Status Report — Passive Income Advisors, LLC, and Gena Lofton — District of Nevada, No. 2:20-cv-01537-RFB-MDC (Document 77).” Original at storage.courtlistener.com, dated 2025-09-11. Archived at Pandemic Darlings, https://pandemicdarlings.com/source-documents/2025-09-11-plaintiffs-v-passive-income-advisors-llc-and-103a4d59-1/, SHA-256 103a4d5948caa65567855dbef05591f9c2ff58006496668c7a368f92d88e6930.

Full text

Case 2:20-cv-01537-RFB-MDC Document 77 Filed 11/19/25 Page 1 of 4

1 BRETT A. SHUMATE
Assistant Attorney General
2 Civil Division

3 JAMIE ANN YAVELBERG
COLIN M. HUNTLEY
4 JARED S. WIESNER (District of Columbia Bar No. 976856)
PATRICK T. O’HARE (Texas Bar No. 24131554)
5 Attorneys, Civil Division
United States Department of Justice
6 P.O. Box 261
Ben Franklin Station
7 Washington, DC 20044
Phone: 202-353-1274
8 Fax: 202-541-0280
jared.s.wiesner2@usdoj.gov
9
Attorneys for the United States
10
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
11 DISTRICT OF NEVADA
12
United States of America ex rel. Case No. 2:20-cv-01537-RFB-MDC
13 Bryan Quesenberry,
PLAINTIFF UNITED STATES OF
14 Plaintiffs, AMERICA AND DEFENDANTS’
STIPULATED STATUS REPORT
15 v.

16 Passive Income Advisors, LLC, and
Gena Lofton,
17
Defendants.
18

19
On September 11, 2025, the Court set a settlement conference in this case for
20

21 9:00 a.m. on November 14, 2025 in person (the “Mediation”). (ECF No. 67 at 1.) On

22 October 17, 2025, the Court vacated the Mediation and ordered the parties to file a
23 stipulated status report on or before December 16, 2025 regarding: (1) the status of federal
24
government budget and funding; (2) resumption of the federal government operations; and
25
(3) availability of a representative of the United States with binding settlement authority to
26
participate in, or be available during, the settlement conference remotely. (ECF No. 76
27

28 at 1.)
Case 2:20-cv-01537-RFB-MDC Document 77 Filed 11/19/25 Page 2 of 4

1 I. Status of Federal Funding and Operations
2 On November 12, 2025, Congress passed the Continuing Appropriations,
3
Agriculture, Legislative Branch, Military Construction and Veterans Affairs, and Extensions
4
Act, 2026, Pub. L. No. 119-37 (2025), which was subsequently signed into law by the
5
President. Accordingly, the federal government budget has been funded through at least
6

7 January 30, 2026, and the Department of Justice has fully resumed operations.

8 II. Availability of United States Officials During a Remote Settlement Conference
9 As discussed in the United States’ request for an attendance exception, the official
10
with full settlement authority for this case is the Director of the Commercial Litigation
11
Branch, Fraud Section, Jamie Ann Yavelberg. (ECF No. 69 at 4.) Trial Attorneys Jared S.
12
Wiesner and Patrick T. O’Hare will have authority to make a settlement recommendation.
13

14 In general, trial attorneys’ recommendations with respect to a settlement are given great

15 weight.

16 Prior to making a settlement recommendation, the Trial Attorneys will need to seek
17
approval from Deputy Director Colin M. Huntley of the Department of Justice’s Civil
18
Division, Commercial Litigation Branch, who has supervisory responsibility over this case.
19
Mr. Huntley will be available during a remote settlement conference.
20
Ms. Yavelberg oversees a staff of over one hundred attorneys and other professionals
21

22 handling thousands of cases. If officials such as her were required to be present or available

23 during settlement conferences in the many cases under their authority, the work of the
24 Department of Justice would be paralyzed. See United States v. U.S. Dist. Court for N. Mariana
25
Islands, 694 F.3d 1051, 1059 (9th Cir. 2012), as amended (Oct. 16, 2012) (“The Assistant
26
Attorney General is the lowest-ranking government official with authority to settle those
27
claims under the Department’s regulations. For her to prepare for and appear at all
28

2
Case 2:20-cv-01537-RFB-MDC Document 77 Filed 11/19/25 Page 3 of 4

1 settlement conferences for all of those cases would be highly impractical, if not physically
2 impossible.”). Remote mediation would not reduce this burden on officials such as
3
Ms. Yavelberg, since a remote mediation would still require significant preparation time and
4
could take a full workday, during which time Ms. Yavelberg would be unable to oversee her
5
staff.
6

7 Accordingly, the United States requests that it be allowed to participate in a remote

8 mediation through the appearance of Trial Attorneys Jared S. Wiesner and Patrick T.

9 O’Hare, during which time Deputy Director Colin M. Huntley will be available.
10
III. Defendants’ Position
11
Defendants also request that they be allowed to participate in a remote mediation
12
through the appearance of attorneys Theo Watson and Carolyn Oliver. Defendants also
13

14 note that the parties engaged in a settlement conference on October 29, 2025. Defendant

15 Gena Lofton has provided all of her financial information requested by the government and

16 is waiting for the government to respond. All parties are awaiting the Magistrate Judge’s
17 new date and schedules.
18
Respectfully submitted this 19th day of November, 2025.
19
BRETT A. SHUMATE
20 Assistant Attorney General
Civil Division
21
/s/ Patrick T. O’Hare /s/ Carolyn L. Oliver*
22 JAMIE ANN YAVELBERG THEODORE P. WATSON
COLIN M. HUNTLEY CAROLYN L. OLIVER
23 JARED S. WIESNER Watson & Associates, LLC
PATRICK T. O’HARE
24 Attorneys, Civil Division Attorneys for Defendants
U.S. Department of Justice *signed with permission by
25 Patrick T. O’Hare*
Attorneys for the United States
26

3
Case 2:20-cv-01537-RFB-MDC Document 77 Filed 11/19/25 Page 4 of 4

1 CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE

2
I hereby certify that on November 19, 2025, I electronically transmitted the within and
3
foregoing PLAINTIFF UNITED STATES OF AMERICA AND DEFENDANTS’
4
STIPULATED STATUS REPORT to the Clerk’s Office using the CM/ECF System for filing
5 and transmittal of a Notice of Electronic Filing to all CM/ECF registrants listed as counsel in
6 this case.
7

8
/s/ Patrick T. O’Hare
9 PATRICK T. O’HARE
Trial Attorney, Civil Division
10

File and source

File: quesenberry_bul_connections__docket-68984054__doc-77__id-459325027__Status_Report.pdf
Size: 135,249 bytes
SHA-256: 103a4d5948caa65567855dbef05591f9c2ff58006496668c7a368f92d88e6930
Our copy: quesenberry_bul_connections__docket-68984054__doc-77__id-459325027__Status_Report.pdf
Original: storage.courtlistener.com