I-485 and Criminal Record

[Ben E.]

I had an incident of shoplifting 12 years ago in Canada for which I received a discharge (found guilty but not convicted); the penalty was 20 hours of community service. This discharge has been expunged from my record. So, technically, my record is clean. Do I have to declare this in my I-485? I have been told that since it has been expunged, it means that it never happened and I should not mention it in my I-485.

Thanks for any information.

Ben E.