Source: https://case-law.vlex.com/vid/557-u-s-29-606045706
Timestamp: 2019-04-19 20:20:25+00:00

Document:
Party Name: Manoj NIJHAWAN, Petitioner, v. Eric H. HOLDER, Jr., Attorney General.
Eric H. HOLDER, Jr., Attorney General.
An alien "convicted of an aggravated felony any time after admission is deportable." 8 U.S.C. §1227(a)(2)(A)(iii). An "aggravated felony" includes "an offense that . . . involves fraud or deceit in which the loss to the . . . victims exceeds $10,000." §1101(a)(43)(M)(i). Petitioner, an alien, was convicted of conspiring to commit mail fraud and related crimes. Because the relevant statutes did not require a finding of loss, the jury made no such finding. However, at sentencing, petitioner stipulated that the loss exceeded $100 million. He was sentenced to prison and required to make $683 million in restitution. The Government subsequently sought to remove him from the United States, claiming that he had been convicted of an "aggravated felony." The Immigration Judge found that petitioner's conviction fell within the "aggravated felony" definition. The Board of Immigration Appeals agreed, as did the Third Circuit, which held that the Immigration Judge could inquire into the underlying facts of a prior fraud conviction for purposes of determining whether the loss to the victims exceeded $10,000.
Subparagraph (M)(i)'s $10,000 threshold refers to the particular circumstances in which an offender committed a fraud or deceit crime on a particular occasion rather than to an element of the fraud or deceit crime. Pp. 2298 - 2304.
(a) Words such as "crime," "felony, and "offense" sometimes refer to a generic crime (a "categorical" interpretation), and sometimes refer to the specific acts in [129 S.Ct. 2296] which an offender engaged ("circumstance-specific" interpretation). The basic argument favoring the "categorical" interpretation rests upon Taylor v. United States, 495 U.S. 575, 110 S.Ct. 2143, 109 L.Ed.2d 607, Chambers v. United States, 555 U.S. ___, 129 S.Ct. 687, 172 L.Ed.2d 484, and James v. United States, 550 U.S. 192, 127 S.Ct. 1586, 167 L.Ed.2d 532. These cases concerned the Armed Career Criminal Act (ACCA), which enhances the sentence for firearm-law offenders who have prior "violent felony" convictions, 18 U.S.C. §924(e). The Court held that the word "felony" refers to a generic crime as generally committed. Thus, for example, in James, the Court applied the "categorical method" to determine whether an "attempted burglary" was a "violent felony." That method required the Court to examine "not the unsuccessful burglary . . . attempted on a particular occasion, but the generic crime of attempted burglary." 550 U.S. at 204206, 127 S.Ct. 1586. Pp. 2298-2300.
(b) Contrary to petitioner's arguments, the "$10,000 loss" provision at issue calls for a "circumstance-specific" interpretation, not a "categorical" one. The "aggravated felony" statute of which it is a part differs from ACCA in general, and the "$10,000 loss" provision differs specifically from ACCA's provisions. Pp. 2300–2302.
Thomas E. Moseley, Newark, NJ, for Petitioner.
Curtis E. Gannon, for Respondent.
Peter C. Salerno, New York, NY, Thomas E. Moseley, Newark, NJ, for Petitioner.
Elena Kagan, Solicitor General, Michael F. Hertz, Acting Assistant Attorney General, Edwin S. Kneedler, Deputy Solicitor General, Curtis E. Gannon, Assistant to the Solicitor General, Donald E. Keener, Jennifer J. Keeney, W. Manning Evans, Holly M. Smith, Andrew C. Maclachlan, Saul Greenstein, Erica B. Miles, Washington, D.C., for Respondent.
Federal immigration law provides that any "alien who is convicted of an aggravated felony at any time after admission is deportable." 8 U.S.C. §1227(a)(2)(A)(iii) (emphasis added). A related statute defines "aggravated felony" in terms of a set of listed offenses that includes "an offense that . . . involves fraud or deceit in which the loss to the victim or victims exceeds $10,000." §1101(a)(43)(M)(i) (emphasis added). See Appendix A. The question before us is whether the italicized language refers to an element of the fraud or deceit "offense" as set forth in the particular fraud or deceit statute defining the offense of which the alien was previously convicted. If so, then in order to determine whether a prior conviction is for the kind of offense described, the immigration judge must look to the criminal fraud or deceit statute to see whether it contains a monetary threshold of $10,000 or more. See Taylor v. United States, 495 U.S. 575, 110 S.Ct. 2143, 109 L.Ed.2d 607 (1990) (so interpreting the Armed Career Criminal [129 S.Ct. 2298] Act). We conclude, however, that the italicized language does not refer to an element of the fraud or deceit crime. Rather it refers to the particular circumstances in which an offender committed a (more broadly defined) fraud or deceit crime on a particular occasion.
Petitioner, an alien, immigrated to the United States in 1985. In 2002 he was indicted for conspiring to commit mail fraud, wire fraud, bank fraud, and money laundering. 18 U.S.C. §§371, 1341, 1343, 1344, 1956(h). A jury found him guilty. But because none of these statutes requires a finding of any particular amount of victim loss, the jury made no finding about the amount of the loss. At sentencing petitioner stipulated that the loss exceeded $100 million. The court then imposed a sentence of 41 months in prison and required restitution of $683 million.

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