Opinion ID: 769810
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Aggravated Felony and 18 U.S.C. S 472

Text: 13 Albillo was convicted of one count of Possession of Counterfeit Obligations of the United States, in violation of 18 U.S.C. S 472, which reads: 14 Whoever, with intent to defraud, passes, utters, publishes, or sells, or attempts to pass, utter, publish, or sell, or with like intent brings into the United States or keeps in possession or conceals any falsely made, forged, counterfeited, or altered obligation or other security of the United States, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than fifteen years, or both. 15 To support a conviction under 18 U.S.C. S 472, the government must prove that a counterfeit bill was passed or possessed by the defendant, who knew the bill was counterfeit, and that the defendant passed or possessed the bill with intent to defraud. United States v. McCall, 592 F.2d 1066, 1068 (9th Cir. 1979); see also United States v. Rodriguez, 761 F.2d 1339 (9th Cir. 1985). This requisite knowledge and intent to defraud is sufficient to make a conviction under 18 U.S.C. S 472 one that is related to the act of counterfeiting itself. 2 By penalizing those who knowingly use or possess counterfeit bills with the intent to defraud, the statute seeks to discourage counterfeiting through the criminalization of the use of its end product. 16 Moreover, Albillo's argument that a conviction under 18 U.S.C. S 472 is not a crime relating to counterfeiting impermissibly reads the term relating to out of section 101(a)(43)(R). See Burrey v. Pacific Gas & Elec. Co., 159 F.3d 388, 394 (9th Cir. 1998) (In interpreting a statutory provision, we must avoid any construction that renders some of its language superfluous.). Section 101(a)(43)(R) necessarily covers a range of activities beyond those of counterfeiting or forgery itself. The crime of counterfeiting is covered in 18 U.S.C. S 471, which provides that [w]hoever, with intent to defraud, falsely makes, forges, counterfeits, or alters any obligation or other security of the United States, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than fifteen years, or both. 17 Nor does our decision in Coronado-Durazo support Albillo's construction of section 101(a)(43)(R) of the INA. Coronado-Durazo construes section 241(a)(2)(B)(i) of the INA, 8 U.S.C. S 1227(a)(2)(B)(i), which provides that an alien who is convicted of a violation of (or a conspiracy or attempt to violate) any law or regulation . . . relating to a controlled substance may be deported. There we held that the statute's structure [was] clear: aliens who have been convicted of violating laws aimed at the regulation or prohibition of controlled substances are deportable, as are aliens who have been convicted of conspiracy or attempt to violate such laws. 123 F.3d at 1325. As noted, a law criminalizing the possession of counterfeit money, where such a conviction requires an intent to defraud and knowledge that the money is counterfeit, is clearly aimed at the . . . prohibition of counterfeiting. 18 Moreover, a conviction for possession of a counterfeit obligation is, unlike solicitation, far from a generic crime. Coronado-Durazo, then, lends support to our holding that a conviction under 18 U.S.C. S 472 is an aggravated felony for the purposes of section 101(a)(43)(R) of the INA. 19 Because Albillo has been convicted of an aggravated felony, section 309(c)(4)(G) of IIRIRA bars our jurisdiction over his petition for review as well as Albillo's claim that the BIA's application of section 440(d) of the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996 (AEDPA), Pub. L. No. 104-132, 110 Stat. 1214, 3 violated his Fifth Amendment right to equal protection. See Magana-Pizano v. INS , 200 F.3d 603, 607 (9th Cir. 1999). Accordingly, the petition for review is DISMISSED.