ORDER ADOPTING REPORT AND RECOMMENDATION, DENYING MOTION TO AMEND, AND DENYING MOTION TO STRIKE

THOMAS L. LUDINGTON, District Judge.

On December 22, 2015, Defendant Kelli Rae Smith filed a pro se motion to amend her motion to vacate under 28 U.S.C. § 2255. See Def.'s Mot. Amend, ECF No. 52. She seeks to include claims that her plea was entered into involuntarily or unknowingly based on the fact that the appeal waiver in her plea agreement was never explained to her. She also seeks to include claims of ineffective assistance of counsel relating to the plea process. She claims that her counsel was absent when she signed her plea agreement and did not explain anything in the agreement to her. The Government moved to strike her motion to amend. See Mot. Strike, ECF No. 55. Both motions were referred to Magistrate Judge Patricia T. Morris for report and recommendation.

On January 8, 2016, Judge Morris issued a report recommending that Defendant's motion be denied because her claims did not relate back to the claims she initially brought in her § 2255 motion. See Rep. & Rec., ECF No. 57. Judge Morris also recommended that the Government's motion to strike be denied as moot. Id.

Although the Magistrate Judge's report explicitly stated that the parties to this action may object to and seek review of the recommendation within fourteen days of service of the report, neither Plaintiff nor Defendant filed any objections. The election not to file objections to the Magistrate Judge's report releases the Court from its duty to independently review the record. Thomas v. Arn, 474 U.S. 140, 149 (1985). The failure to file objections to the report and recommendation waives any further right to appeal.

Accordingly, it is ORDERED that the magistrate judge's report and recommendation, ECF No. 57, is ADOPTED.

It is further ORDERED that Defendant's Motion to Amend, ECF No. 52, is DENIED.

It is further ORDERED that the Government's Motion to Strike, ECF No. 55, is DENIED as moot.