A criminal offense classified as a crime involving moral turpitude is a common reason for a noncitizen to be placed into removal proceedings.

The Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) generally defines a theft offense for which a sentence of at least one year is imposed as an “aggravated felony.” An “aggravated felony” carries particularly harsh immigration consequences for noncitizens convicted of such crimes. It is one—but not the only—basis to deport noncitizens convicted of a criminal offense. 

A criminal offense classified as a crime involving moral turpitude (“CIMT”) may also be grounds for a noncitizen to be deportable, inadmissible, and/or barred from relief. CIMTs generally require intent to cause great bodily harm, defraud, or permanently deprive an owner of property, or in some cases to act with lewd intent or recklessness.

Convictions and Immigration Status

Noncitizens, regardless of their immigration status, convicted of an “aggravated felony” are prohibited from receiving most forms of relief that would spare them from deportation (and from being readmitted to the United States at any time in the future).

A noncitizen is deportable for one conviction of a CIMT if the offense is within five (5) years of the last “admission” to the United States and if the offense carries a potential sentence of one year. Two or more CIMTs make a noncitizen “inadmissible” to the United States. 

While shoplifting is not an automatic aggravated felony theft offense, for the purposes of immigration status it is categorically a CIMT.

Aggravated felony theft entails “the taking of, or exercise of control over, property without consent whenever there is criminal intent to deprive the owner of the rights and benefits of ownership, even if such deprivation is less than total or permanent.” 

To deprive someone of their property is a CIMT. However, to appropriate property of another is not. The statutes are divisible, meaning that they contain elements that constitute a theft offense and elements that do not. 

In Ramos v. US Atty. Gen., — F.3d —, 2013 WL 599552 (11th Cir. Feb. 19, 2013), the Eleventh Circuit found that a conviction under OCGA 16-8-14 with an intent to appropriate does not qualify as a theft aggravated felony under 8 USC § 1101(a)(43)(G). A violation of the statute with an intent to deprive would, however, constitute an aggravated felony.

In addition to plea negotiation on your behalf, there are defense strategies I use to help protect you from a CIMT conviction.

Contact a Skilled Criminal Defense Georgia Attorney

If you have been convicted or charged with shoplifting and your immigration status is at stake, contact me.