NOT RECOMMENDED F OR F ULL-TEXT PUBLICATION File Na me: 13a0630n.06 No. 12-4393 UNITED STAT ES COURT OF AP P EALS F OR THE S IXTH CIRCUIT MOHAMED MUSSA B USHRA, Petitioner,

v. ERI C H. HOL DER, J R., Attorney Gene ral, Respondent. ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ON PETI TI ON F OR REVI EW FROM THE U

NI TED STATES BO ARD OF I MMI GRATI ON APPEAL S

BEF ORE: KEI TH and Mc KEAGU E, Circuit J udg es; WATSON, District J udg e. *

PER CURI AM. Mohamed Mussa Bushr a, a native of Ethiopia, petitions throug h counsel for revie w of a decision by the Boa rd of I m m i g ration Appea ls (B I A) finding him remova ble under 8 U.S.C. § 1227(a)(2) (A)( ii) for having c ommitt ed two cr imes involving moral turpitude. Bushr a enter ed this country in 2001 with his wife and children, as ref ug ees. Bushr a and his wife claimed to have been perse cuted in Ethiopia for supporting the Oromo L iberation Fr ont, an antig overnme nt org anization. They fled Ethiopia to Keny a, wher e they lived as ref ug ees fo r s everal y ear s befor e being g rante d admission to the United State s . I n 2005, Bushr a was g rante d leg al perma nent re sidence status.

The Honor able Micha el H. Watson, United States District Judge for the Souther n District * of Ohio, sitting by

desig nation.No. 12-4393

Bushra v. Holder I n 2002, Bushr a was convicted of fourth-de g ree criminal sex ual conduc t, which he admits is a crime involving moral turpitude. I n 2011, he was convicted of willful failure to comply with sex offe nder reg istration require ments and possession with intent to deliver proper ty with a counter feit mark, i.e. , counter feit Nike shoes. He was place d in r emoval proce eding s and applied f or re lief in the form of withholding of remova l and protec tion under the Convention Ag ainst Torture (CAT). An immigration judge (I J ) conclude d that both of Bus h ra ’s n ew convictions constituted crimes involving moral turpitude. He was denied the relief of withholding or protec tion under the CAT on the g rounds that he was ineligible beca use he was a member of a terror ist org anization and beca use his testimony was found not cre dible. I n his petition for revie w, Bushr a challeng es only the finding that he is remova

ble for having been convicted of two crimes involving moral turpitude, contending that neither failure to reg iste r as a s ex offe nder nor delivery of proper ty with a counter feit mark involves moral turpitude. We have jurisdiction to revie w t he order of remova l i n t h i s case beca use Bushra is raising a question of law

. See Ruiz-Lopez v. Holder , 682 F.3d 513, 516 (6th Cir. 2012). The B I A’s leg al interpre tation of what criminal acts involve moral turpitude must be upheld unless i t i s ar b i t rary , capr icious, or manifestly contra ry to the statute. Id. The BIA applied a cate g orica l analy sis, unde r which Bushr a’s conduct wa s not ex amined, but only the inhere nt nature of

the cr imes of which he

was c onvicted, as de fined by statute and interpr eted by the cour ts. T h e o n l y ch alleng e Bushr a raises befor e us is that he did not commit crimes of moral turpitude beca

u s e h e lacked the nece ssary scienter due to his being bare ly literate. He arg ues t hat he did not understand the sex offe nder repor ting require ments or the law conce rni n g co u nterfe it -2-No. 12-4393

Bushra v. Holder g oods. I t is true that crimes involving moral turpitude g ener ally include those in which knowledg e is an element of the statute. See Miche l v. INS , 206 F.3d 253, 263 (2d Cir. 2000). The BIA rea soned that Michig an Compil ed L aws § 28.729(1)( a) criminalizes willful failure to reg i s t er as a sex offe nder, and found persuasive an ear lier ca se holding California’s statute c riminaliz ing failure to reg ister as a sex offe nder to be a crime involvi ng moral t urpitude because it contained an element of willfulness. See Matter of Tobar-Lobo , 24 I

. & N. Dec

. 143, 144–47 (B I A 2007). S imilarly , crimes involving fra

ud have g ener ally been considere d to involve moral t urpitude beca use they include the element of scienter

. See Y erem in v. Holder , 707 F.3d 616, 622 (6th Cir. 2013). The BIA found the delivery of property with a counterfe it mark to be a crime of moral t urpitude u n d er t h i s analy sis. The BIA is entitled to rely on the fac t of his convictions as evidenc e that he was g uilty of all elements o f the offe nses, including the willfulness or scienter elements; Bushr a may not challeng e the moral turpitude finding on the basis of fac ts that wer e nece ssary to his prior conv i ct i o ns. Id

. Be cause the only arg

ument Bushr a raises is not p roper ly befor e the court, the finding that he is

remova ble on the basis of at least two convictions of crimes involving moral turpitude canno t be disturbed. Acc ording ly , the petition for re view is denied.

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