Rafael Lara-Chacon v. John Ashcroft, Attorney General

345 F.3d 1148
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
DecidedNovember 6, 2003
Docket19-16550
StatusPublished
Cited by42 cases

This text of 345 F.3d 1148 (Rafael Lara-Chacon v. John Ashcroft, Attorney General) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Rafael Lara-Chacon v. John Ashcroft, Attorney General, 345 F.3d 1148 (9th Cir. 2003).

Opinion

TASHIMA, Circuit Judge.

Rafael Lara-Chacon (“Petitioner” or “Lara Chacon”), a native and citizen of Mexico, petitions for review of the decision of the Board of Immigration Appeals (“BIA”), dismissing his appeal of the immigration judge’s (“IJ’s”) order finding Lara-Chacon removable for having been convicted of an aggravated felony and for having been convicted of violating a law related to a controlled substance. We grant the petition, vacate the order and remand.

BACKGROUND

Petitioner was admitted to the United States in 1970 as an immigrant. In 1999, he was convicted, based on a guilty plea, of five counts of conspiracy to commit money laundering in violation of Ariz.Rev.Stat. §§ 13-1003, 13-2317(A)(1) and (C), and was sentenced to three and one-half years’ imprisonment. As a result of these convictions, the Immigration and Naturalization Service (“INS”) charged Petitioner with being subject to removal for being an alien convicted of an aggravated felony under the Immigration and Nationality Act (“INA”), § 237(a)(2)(A)(iii). 1

The INS initially charged Lara Chacon with removability based on money laundering in excess of $10,000, which is defined as an aggravated felony in INA § 101(a)(43)(D). 2 In two subsequent amendments to the charging document, the INS added charges of removability based on illicit trafficking in a controlled substance, INA § 101(a)(43)(B), 3 an aggravated felony, and controlled substance violation, INA § 237(A)(2)(B)©. 4

After several continuances of his merits hearing, Petitioner admitted that he was a *1150 citizen of Mexico. At a later hearing, Petitioner admitted to his convictions, but denied that his convictions qualified as removable offenses under the INA. The IJ construed the denial as a motion to terminate the proceedings, and gave the parties the opportunity to submit briefs and continued the hearing.

The INS attached a copy of Petitioner’s Presentence Report (“PSR”) to its brief. After receiving the briefs and without holding any hearing on the issue, the IJ issued an order finding Petitioner removable for having been convicted of the aggravated felony of trafficking in controlled substances and for violating a law related to a controlled substance. Based solely on information in the PSR, he concluded that Petitioner’s money laundering convictions were predicated upon trafficking in marijuana, a controlled substance. The IJ cited the PSR as follows:

[T]he Presentence Report states that the respondent was identified as a “drug broker, who put drug deals together.” Consequently, other criminal cohorts would “call Lara [the petitioner] when they needed marijuana.” On the basis of the foregoing, it is evident to this Court that the respondent’s state felony conviction for racketeering/money laundering involved marijuana.
Again the Presentence Report indicates that “Rafael Lara was identified as a drug broker, who put drug deals together ... Defendants Carlos Taylor and David Garcia called Lara when they needed marijuana.

The IJ found that marijuana is a controlled substance under the Controlled Substance Act, and therefore that the conviction was for trafficking in an illicit controlled substance. Additionally, the IJ found Lara-Chacon removable because the conviction constituted a “violation[] of a law of a State relating to a controlled substance with the meaning of § 237(a)(2)(B)(i) of the Act.” (emphasis in original). The IJ found that the exception from removability in the INA for aliens convicted only of a “single offense involving possession for one’s own use of thirty grams or less of marijuana” under § 287(a)(2)(B)® did not apply because “respondent was a drug dealer, who dealt in large quantities of marijuana.” The IJ based this conclusion on an exhibit to the PSR “indicating that respondent’s cohorts were found transporting 15 pounds of marijuana.” (emphasis in the original).

The IJ dismissed the charge for the aggravated felony of money laundering because there was no showing of the amount of funds that was laundered.

Petitioner appealed to the BIA, which dismissed his appeal. The BIA rejected Petitioner’s challenge to the use of the PSR, finding it admissible under 8 C.F.R. § 3.41(a)(6) and § 3.41(d). 5 The BIA not *1151 ed the parts of the PSR that referred to Lara-Chacon as a “ ‘drug dealer, who put drug deals together’ ” and to the fact that his “criminal cohorts would’ call Lara [the petitioner] when they needed marijuana.’ ” Additionally, the BIA noted that the PSR indicated that the conviction involved the transportation of 15 pounds of marijuana. The BIA found that because marijuana is a controlled substance, the conviction constituted trafficking in a controlled substance, an aggravated felony under INA § 101(a)(43)(B), 8 U.S.C. § 1101(a)(43)(B). Additionally, the BIA agreed with the IJ’s reasoning for the second charge of remov-ability under § 1227(a)(2)(B)(i) (conviction relating to a controlled substance). The BIA also agreed with the IJ’s dismissal of the money laundering charge.

STANDARD OF REVIEW

We review de novo the question of whether a conviction under state law is a deportable offense. See Coronado-Durazo v. INS, 123 F.3d 1322, 1324 (9th Cir.1997). While the BIA’s interpretation of immigration laws is entitled to deference, see INS v. Aguirre-Aguirre, 526 U.S. 415, 424-25, 119 S.Ct. 1439, 143 L.Ed.2d 590 (1999), we are not obligated to accept an interpretation that is contrary to the plain and sensible meaning of the statute. See Beltran-Tirado v. INS, 213 F.3d 1179, 1185 (9th Cir.2000).

ANALYSIS

I. Jurisdiction

Respondent challenges our jurisdiction to hear this case. Pursuant to the permanent rules of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act (“IIRIRA”), if the BIA correctly concluded that Lara Chacon was convicted of an aggravated felony, the court lacks jurisdiction to review the removal decision. See 8 U.S.C. § 1252(a)(2)(C).

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Bluebook (online)
345 F.3d 1148, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/rafael-lara-chacon-v-john-ashcroft-attorney-general-ca9-2003.