Got Citation for Shoplifting in Colorado

H

hchhon

New Member
My wife was apprehended for shoplifting at a grocery store and the total value is $34. She was taken to the manager office to sign some papers and the store manager called the police. The police came and wrote her a citation and she was released without being taken to the police station. They did not fingerprint and took any pictures of her. The police told her to go to the municipal court to appear her case to the judge. The next day she went to the municipal court and she paid the court administration fee and the judge gave her 16 hours of community service at the library and no jail time or any probation classes were given to her. The only probation the judge gave her is to be good for 6 months without any more shoplifting or tress passing and her case will be closed after that. The court classified her case as misdemeanors. Under the Colorado Theft guide line: The maximum jail time is 3 months for stolen good of less than $100 in value and a penalty of no more than $500.
She has been in the US for 7 months with a 2 year conditional green card and this is her first offense. Here are my questions:

1. Will she get deported?

2. She will be applying for I-751 Petition to Remove the Conditions of Residence in the next 9 to10 months after her case is closed. Does she need to answer yes to question 7 of Part 3? Some people told me to check “No”. Since they didn’t tak her fingerprint and pictures, could the USCIS find out that she was committing shoplifting?

3. Does she need a lawyer to represent her when she files for I-751 because of her shoplifting incident? I am thinking not to hire a lawyer because I think I can explain to the interviewers if they ask.

4. What is the chance that the USCIS will approved her I-751 application?


Thank you
 
Sorry for posting the wrong board.

Could you tell me where is the proper place to ask these kinds of guestions?
Thank you
 
@Choron You need to disclose any citation/arrests/convictions. OP's case is over 14 years old but in his example, his wife was clearly convicted by the judge for the crime of shoplifting. Conviction does not always entail jail time - it could be probation or fines/community service. If his wife pled not guilty and the prosecution could not show enough evidence, then the judge might have acquitted her meaning there would be no probation/community service or any other punishment. In both cases, the incident still needs to be disclosed and you need to show a certified court order to the adjudicator. However, you still should be able to naturalize in such a scenario as it falls under petty offense exception.

A crime involving moral turpitude is considered a “petty offense” if:

  • the maximum penalty that you could have received for committing the offense is exactly one year or less, AND
  • you personally were sentenced to no more than six months imprisonment, regardless of the amount of time you actually served.
In order to show that your offense was a petty one, you will need to provide the U.S. government official who is ruling on your immigration application with:

  • a certified disposition from the court that convicted you, and
  • a copy of the statute under which you were convicted, including the maximum possible sentence.
 
My situation I plead guiltytonhave the deal .They give 8 hour community service and class theft and one year on probation no conviction after one year my case will be dismissed.I don’t know if I’m still quality for apply on naturalization one day or I have to wait 3 or 5 years before applying. Thx
 
What’s the maximum possible sentence under the statute which you were convicted (regardless of what penalty you got)? If it’s under 1 year and that’s the only criminal record you have then you qualify under petty offense and can apply right away. Read my post above.
 
Thanks for you answer. When you said if it’s under 1 year ? Mine is 1 year that means I’m qualify under petty offense if I very understand? also was convinced for careless driving so I don’t know if is gonna be a problem for applying.thx
 
Choron said:
Thanks for you answer. When you said if it’s under 1 year ? Mine is 1 year that means I’m qualify under petty offense if I very understand? also was convinced for careless driving so I don’t know if is gonna be a problem for applying.thx
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It depends on what statute you were convicted under for reckless driving in your state. Is it CIMT? Two offenses cannot be forgiven under petty offense exception. I suggest you take your court convictions to an immigration attorney to get it evaluated. Without knowing the exact statutes in your case it’s hard to evaluate. If not you may have to wait 5/3 years after the last conviction.
 
You have not mentioned any of the actual statutes under which you were convicted so any advice will be speculative. Hence I suggested you take a copy of your convictions to your lawyer. Even if reckless driving is not CIMT, it could be a misdemeanor and since you have another conviction you may have a problem proving GMC. There are multiple categories of reckless driving some of which might be infractions while some maybe misdemeanors. Hence your actual convictions are important.
 
Hello . Yes you right my careles driving was misdemeanor classe 2 but after 1 year my case was dismissed. my two case happen after my period GMC. Maybe after all this case I’m not quality for under petty offense exceptions. That is very sad . I don’t know what to do now .
 
Choron said:
Hello . Yes you right my careles driving was misdemeanor classe 2 but after 1 year my case was dismissed. my two case happen after my period GMC. Maybe after all this case I’m not quality for under petty offense exceptions. That is very sad . I don’t know what to do now .
Click to expand...

What do you mean by “case was dismissed”? If the case was dismissed then there was no conviction. But I’m a prior post you mentioned that you were convicted. I’m sorry but it appears that you are not able to clearly articulate your case. I suggest you spend $100 -$150 for consultation with an immigration lawyer and take your court documents along.
 
Hello . I just Read my paper again and then I found that after one year my case was dismissed. I didn’t know sorry because that day at the court I didn’t have the lawyer to explain to me . So im
Not convicted to both case but plea guilty to both case it’s a problem to apply for naturalization? Cause my case about shoplifting they gave me 1 year for probation .Thx again for you answer
 
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