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IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT 

COURT FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT 

OF TEXAS SHERMAN DIVISION

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

v.

CAROLINA AYALA

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§

§

§

§

CRIMINAL ACTION NO. 4:23-CR00201-ALM-AGD

REPORT AND RECOMMENDATION OF 

UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE

Now before the court is the request for revocation of Defendant Carolina Ayala’s

supervised release. After the District Judge referred the matter to this court for a report and 

recommendation, the court conducted a hearing on November 20, 2023, to determine whether 

Defendant violated her supervised release. Defendant was represented by Richard Weaver. The 

Government was represented by Christopher Rapp.

Defendant was sentenced on December 14, 2015, before The Honorable Lynn N. Hughes 

of the Southern District of Texas after pleading guilty to the offenses of Count 1: Attempted 

Importation of Methamphetamine, Aid and Abet, a Class C felony and Count 2: Conspiracy to

Import Methamphetamine, a class C Felony. These offenses carried a statutory maximum 

imprisonment term of 20 years. The guideline imprisonment range, based on a total offense level 

of 27 and a criminal history category of III, was 87 to 108 months. However, pursuant to the

Government’s motion for a departure based on substantial assistance, Defendant was sentenced 

below the guideline range, and was subsequently sentenced to 36 months imprisonment (both 

counts to run concurrent) followed by a 3-year term of supervised release (both counts to run 

concurrent) subject to the standard conditions of release, plus special conditions to include 

substance abuse testing and treatment and a $200.00 special assessment. On June 2, 2017, 

Defendant completed her period of imprisonment and began service of the supervision term in 

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the Northern District of Texas. On July 5, 2017, jurisdiction of the case was transferred to the 

Northern District of Texas from the Southern District of Texas.

On March 20, 2019, the original term of supervised release was revoked, and Defendant

was subsequently sentenced to 7 months imprisonment followed by a 3-year term of supervised 

release. The original special conditions of supervision remained, and mental health treatment was 

added. Defendant commenced this term of supervised release on August 16, 2019, in the Northern 

District of Texas, Dallas Division. Jurisdiction of this case was transferred to the Eastern District 

of Texas on August 17, 2023, and the case was reassigned to The Honorable U.S. District Judge 

Amos Mazzant, III.

On September 7, 2023, the United States Probation Officer executed a First Amended 

Petition for Warrant or Summons for Offender Under Supervision (Dkt. #2, Sealed). The Petition 

asserts that Defendant violated four (4) conditions of supervision, as follows: (1) (mandatory) 

Defendant must not commit another federal, state, or local crime; and (2) (mandatory) Defendant 

must not commit another federal, state, or local crime; (3) (mandatory) Defendant must not 

unlawfully possess a controlled substance; and (4) (standard) Defendant must not knowingly 

leave the federal judicial district where Defendant is authorized to reside without first getting 

permission from the court or the probation officer. The Petition alleges that Defendant committed 

the following acts: (1) On September 24, 2019, Defendant was arrested by the Denton, Texas 

Police Department for the offense of Manufacture/Delivery of a Controlled Substance in Penalty 

Group 1>4 <300. She was released from custody on October 4, 2019, on a $50,000 bond. At the 

time the first amended petition was prepared, no formal charges had been filed in Denton County.

According to the arrest report, Defendant traveled to Lewisville, Texas to deliver 

methamphetamine to another person, during an undercover operation. After arriving at the 

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meeting location, she was detained by Denton Police Department Officers. During the search, 

five bags of methamphetamine were found in the center console of her vehicle. The aggregate 

weight of the methamphetamine was 4.03 ounces (114.25 grams); (2) On October 8, 2019, the 

Grand Jury in the Eastern District of Texas, Sherman Division, returned a two- count Indictment 

under Docket No. 4:19CR257-001 against her for Count 1: Conspiracy to Possess with the Intent 

to Distribute Methamphetamine, in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1) & 846 and Count 2: 

Conspiracy to Possess with the Intent to Distribute Heroin, in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1) 

and 846. She was arrested on November 5, 2019. A plea agreement was filed on August 30, 2022, 

wherein she pled guilty to Count One of the Indictment. At the time the first amended petition 

was filed, the case remained pending, and the sentencing hearing wasset for November 15, 2023.1

According to Count One of the Indictment, from sometime in or about January 2019 to October 

8, 2019, Defendant along with others did knowingly and intentionally combine, conspire, and 

agree with each other and other persons known and unknown to the United States Grand Jury, to 

knowingly and intentionally possess with the intent to manufacture and distribute 500 grams or 

more of a mixture or substance containing a detectable amount of methamphetamine or 50 grams 

or more of methamphetamine (actual), in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1) & 846; (3) Defendant

was in possession of methamphetamine as evidenced by the arrest on September 24, 2019, and the 

Indictment filed under Docket No. 4:19CR257-001; and (4) On September 24, 2019, Defendant

traveled to Lewisville, Texas, which is in the Eastern District of Texas, while her case was being 

supervised in the Northern District of Texas. She did not have permission from the United States 

1 On November 15, 2023, the Honorable Amos L. Mazzant, III sentenced Defendant as follows: “The defendant is 

hereby committed to the custody of the United States Bureau of Prisons to be imprisoned for a total term of: 96 months. 

The term of imprisonment imposed by this judgment shall run concurrently to the defendant's imprisonment in any 

future state sentence for Manufacture/Delivery of a Controlled Substance by the Denton Police Department in Denton, 

Texas, and the defendant’s revocation in the Northern District of Texas, Docket No.: 3:17CR331.

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Probation Officer in the Northern District of Texas to travel outside of the district. (Dkt. #2 at 1–

3). 

Prior to the Government putting on its case, Defendant entered a plea of true to all 

allegations in the Petition. Having considered the Petition and the plea of true to all of the 

allegations, the court finds that Defendant did violate her conditions of supervised release.

Defendant waived her right to allocute before the District Judge and her right to object to 

the report and recommendation of this court.

RECOMMENDATION

Pursuant to the Sentencing Reform Act of 1984, the court recommends that Defendant’s 

supervised release be revoked and that she be committed to the custody of the Bureau of Prisons

to be imprisoned for a term of twenty-four (24) months, to run concurrently with any sentence 

imposed in 4:19cr257 in the Eastern District of Texas, with no term of supervised release to

follow. The court also recommends that Defendant be housed in the Bureau of Prisons facility in 

Tallahassee, Florida, if appropriate.

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