Marijuana charge... Statement of Probable Cause

My fiance has been picked up by INS for deportation. He was convicted on a possession charge in April 2004. He took a plea agreement of simple possession with 6 months of time. Part of the plea was for there to be no weight associated with guilty plea. On the disposition it just states count 2 possession of marijuana. But in the statement of probable cause it has 1810 grams (4 lbs) which were found during the search. Is the INS able to use the 1810 against, even though he only pled guilty with agreement of it being 0 grams. I need help with what I should do.

OK, your fiancé has stepped into an interesting area of immigration law. Since 9/11, there has been a crackdown by the INS against people with criminal records. Technically they can deport people with green cards (non-citizens) for ANY “crime of moral turpitude” or “aggravated felony” if the person has had a green card for less than 10 years. They can deport a person who has had a green card for more than 10 years for multiple such convictions. And there is some precedent that two “counts” of the same crime count as “multiple crimes”.

Aggravated Felonies do not need to be felonies. The immigration courts have their own definitions and consider some misdemeanors as “aggravated felonies”. In fact, 80-90 percent of ALL crimes are considered aggravated felonies. The lay person definition of “aggravated felonies” is basically “bad crimes”, and it’s hard to argue that any crime beyond a parking ticket is not a “bad crime”.

Crimes of Moral Turpitude are also a very broad category. 90 percent of ALL crimes are considered “crimes of moral turpitude”. The lay person definition of a “crime of moral turpitude” is any crime where you act immorally. Similar to aggravated felonies, it’s hard to argue that ANY crime does not involve you acting immorally.

So, even crimes as minor as DUIs / DWIs can now get you deported. Most other crimes like lying to police officers (or the FBI ala Martha Stewart), all kinds of thefts, anything that involves physically hurting anyone, fraud, or, and here’s the kicker, any drug related crime can now get you deported!

In the last few years the INS has been acting as if every person in this country, who is not a citizen, no matter the circumstances or how long they’ve been legal residents, has no right to be here if they break any laws. This is the situation your fiancé has fallen into.

Other thing to note:
Crimes are categorized by the Immigration Courts by the statute that you are convicted of. Since your fiancé plead guilty to a marijuana possession charge, 1810, the question is whether that charge is considered a Crime of Moral Turpitude or Aggravated Felony. The facts and amount of marijuana they admitted to carrying are less important.

Suggestions:
1. Hire a great immigration attorney specializing in deportations.
2. Hire a great deportation attorney.
3. Hire a great immigration lawyer specializing in deportations.
4. Hire a specialist deportation lawyer ASAP.
I think you get my drift…

This is a VERY serious matter. If you don’t approach it VERY seriously, your fiancé will be deported.