Reported / Citable
Background
Skylar Antonio Braden was sentenced in November 2018 to 24 months in federal custody followed by five years of supervised release on two federal convictions: failing to register as a sex offender and possessing a firearm as a convicted felon. While on supervision, the U.S. Probation Office filed an amended revocation petition in May 2020 alleging three violations: failure to make court-ordered monthly fee payments of $22.00 during February and March 2020, testing positive for marijuana on February 18, 2020, and failing to notify his probation officer of a change in residence from his reported address in Killeen, Texas.
Separately, in July 2022, Braden was sentenced to 26 years in Texas state custody in Bell County for Aggravated Robbery with a Deadly Weapon, a conviction that postdated his federal supervision. The federal revocation proceedings were held in abeyance and ultimately came before U.S. Magistrate Judge Dan N. MacLemore at a hearing on June 2, 2026.
At the revocation hearing, Braden entered a plea of TRUE to all three alleged violations. The magistrate judge found the plea was supported by a sufficient factual basis and that Braden entered it freely, voluntarily, and intelligently, with full understanding of his rights and the proceedings against him.
The Court’s Holding
U.S. Magistrate Judge MacLemore issued a Report and Recommendation to District Judge Alan D. Albright recommending that Braden’s term of supervised release be revoked. The magistrate found that Braden had violated mandatory and standard conditions of his supervision as alleged in all three counts of the petition, and that his plea of TRUE was competently and voluntarily entered.
The magistrate recommended a sentence of six months in federal prison, to run concurrently with Braden’s existing 26-year state sentence, with credit for any time already served since his arrest on the federal revocation matter. No additional period of supervised release was recommended to follow the term of imprisonment. Parties have 14 days from service of the Report to file written objections; failure to do so waives de novo district court review and appellate review except for plain error.
Key Takeaways
- The magistrate found Braden violated three conditions of supervised release: nonpayment of court-ordered fees, marijuana use, and failure to report a change of residence.
- Braden’s plea of TRUE was accepted after the court conducted a full colloquy confirming competence, voluntariness, and understanding of rights.
- The recommended six-month federal term runs concurrently with a 26-year state sentence, effectively resulting in no additional incarceration beyond what Braden is already serving.
- No supervised release tail was recommended, closing out Braden’s federal supervision entirely upon completion of the revocation term.
Why It Matters
This case illustrates how federal supervised release revocation proceedings can remain pending for years while a defendant serves an intervening state sentence, and how courts structure concurrent federal revocation sentences to avoid piling additional incarceration on top of lengthy state terms. The recommended disposition — a short concurrent sentence with no follow-on supervision — reflects a practical approach when the underlying conduct and the defendant’s circumstances (here, a decades-long state sentence) make further federal supervision largely moot.
For practitioners, the case also highlights the procedural requirements governing revocation hearings, including the magistrate judge referral process under 28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(1)(c) and 18 U.S.C. § 3401(i), and the importance of timely filing objections to a Report and Recommendation to preserve appellate rights under the Fifth Circuit’s procedural bar rule established in Douglass v. United Services Automobile Ass’n.