Prostitution Charges and I-751 form

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Leana

Registered Users (C)
In July 2006, I was arrested and charged with prostitution NY State PL230.00 - class B misdemeanor. I never been convicted and my case was adjourned in contemplation of dismissal and in 2007 adj. expired. I do not remember whether i pleaded guilty or not, because my lawyer did all the talking.

In March 2008 i filed I-751 - Petition to remove the conditions on Residence and since then i haven't heard anything from USCIS. In my application form I have indicated that i was arrested and submitted a certificate of disposition along with my explanations of what had happened. I know that law dictates that "people who are involve in prostitution" will be placed for removal, but what does qualify as "involved"? Also, ACD in NYC doesn't consider neither a plea nor conviction is it different for the Immigration Law.
What can i expect?
Thanks, Leana
 
Did the ACD require you to admit to all the elements of the crime during the court proceeding? If yes, it is considered a conviction for immigration purposes.

Consult your lawyer to determine how the ACD was handled.
 
Should i consult with an immigration or Criminal lawyer? A criminal lawyer for this case didn't know any consequences for my immigration status.
Also, if it matters, since 2006 i left USA and came back about 25 times with no questions or problems from Immigration officers at the port entry, plus, in December, I had my passport stamped in Immigration office. They held it for an extra hour claiming that FBI was checking my record because i was arrested, but in the end they released my passport with a stamp of residency.
 
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If you admitted at least one count of prostitution (including pleading guilty), you are deportable. Under the immigration law, not under the criminal law. Even if you admitted an intent for prostitution, it is still the same thing.
 
Leana said:
Should i consult with an immigration or Criminal lawyer? A criminal lawyer for this case didn't know any consequences for my immigration status.
Also, if it matters, since 2006 i left USA and came back about 25 times with no questions or problems from Immigration officers at the port entry, plus, in December, I had my passport stamped in Immigration office. They held it for an extra hour claiming that FBI was checking my record because i was arrested, but in the end they released my passport with a stamp of residency.
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You really need to talk to an immigration lawyer about it - its pretty serious.
Also get the court record and see if you pleaded guilty or not. There must be a way around it - go consult an immigration lawyer.
 
I went to court today to find out about my ACD and if there was a plea of guilt, and indeed, i did plead guilty and then took my plea back. What does it mean? I tried to call my lawyer but she is in courts all day, i'm in a shock condition right now so i would really appreciate if somebody can comment on it. Thanks
 
Leana said:
I went to court today to find out about my ACD and if there was a plea of guilt, and indeed, i did plead guilty and then took my plea back. What does it mean? I tried to call my lawyer but she is in courts all day, i'm in a shock condition right now so i would really appreciate if somebody can comment on it. Thanks
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Contact an immigration lawyer specialized in criminal law.
 
This incident happend within a month a month of you getting GC status? :eek:

Leana said:
In July 2006, I was arrested and charged with prostitution NY State PL230.00 - class B misdemeanor. I never been convicted and my case was adjourned in contemplation of dismissal and in 2007 adj. expired. I do not remember whether i pleaded guilty or not, because my lawyer did all the talking.
Click to expand...
 
Leana said:
I went to court today to find out about my ACD and if there was a plea of guilt, and indeed, i did plead guilty and then took my plea back. What does it mean? I tried to call my lawyer but she is in courts all day, i'm in a shock condition right now so i would really appreciate if somebody can comment on it. Thanks
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It means you didn't plea guilty after all, not sure if you wanna share with us what happened exactly and how did you get arrested - Contact an immigration lawyer, and if you get an interview pay him to go with you.
 

Well... i guess once a life i have to admit to other people what i've done.
Early in 2006 for 3-4 months i worked in a "happy ending" place, no sex involved but it is still not the prettiest business. I've got my conditional GC in May and in July my "boss" called to check if i wanted to pick up a shift (by then i already left this business and was concentrating on my primary job). I agreed and when i arrived to the location, client came and literally 10 mins later the door was knocked off by the police. The "client" was a police officer. They arrested me and until now i'm afraid when somebody starts banging on the door.
I guess i made a good impression on the detectives because they left me alone in a cell and didn't even ask any questions. In the morning they brought me to the community court and one of the detectives told me that they would do everything to assist me with this case and charge me with "Prostitution" aka "hand job for $232.50" instead of performing a massage without a license (which is a bigger crime).
I had a criminal lawyer and i went to court 6 times (in September and October of 2006) because i didn't want to agree to plead guilty in return for ACD. I wanted a complete removal of the case, but... hey... i did it. I was probably too naive to understand that i had to be punished in some way. So, after 6 visits to court, i finally agreed with my lawyer and pleaded guilty with a condition to return in 6 months and take my plea back. That's what i did. On the court day i was given an ACD and 6 months later when i came back to withdraw my plea, my case was dismissed.

This is all. My Criminal Lawyer had no immigration experience so he couldn't advise me anything. Right now i'm waiting for my I-751 form to get resolved.

P.S. yes, i perhaps not the best person in terms of moral, but at least i saved my best girlfriends life, because without those money, Sloan Kettering would never accepted her and she wouldn't have her cancer treatment.


 
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You need a lawyer(s) who specialises in immigration cases that involve criminal cases. Keep us posted and good luck!!!

Leana said:
My Criminal Lawyer had no immigration experience so he couldn't advise me anything. Right now i'm waiting for my I-751 form to get resolved.
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Leana said:

P.S. yes, i perhaps not the best person in terms of moral, but at least i saved my best girlfriends life, because without those money, Sloan Kettering would never accepted her and she wouldn't have her cancer treatment.
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Hey, we all make mistakes. This forum will not judge you, so don't worry about that. Have you used that as mitigating evidence in your court appearance? Often times judges will take into account circumstances surrounding crimes, such as good personality, work with the disadvantaged, etc. It sounds like you could have mentioned your friends cancer treatment and how those monies paid for some of it.

You should definitely mention that in your interview experience when the question of your arrest comes up.
 
Leana said:
My Criminal Lawyer had no immigration experience so he couldn't advise me anything.
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That's an important point to mention to the immigration lawyer who you will consult. In some cases, the failure of the criminal lawyer and the judge to warn you of the immigration consequences of pleading guilty can be used to defend against deportation.
 
Good point. Besides a lawyer loves nothing more than proving that another lawyer is(was) incompetent.

Jackolantern said:
In some cases, the failure of the criminal lawyer and the judge to warn you of the immigration consequences of pleading guilty can be used to defend against deportation.
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Leana said:

Well... i guess once a life i have to admit to other people what i've done.
Early in 2006 for 3-4 months i worked in a "happy ending" place, no sex involved but it is still not the prettiest business. I've got my conditional GC in May and in July my "boss" called to check if i wanted to pick up a shift (by then i already left this business and was concentrating on my primary job). I agreed and when i arrived to the location, client came and literally 10 mins later the door was knocked off by the police. The "client" was a police officer. They arrested me and until now i'm afraid when somebody starts banging on the door.
I guess i made a good impression on the detectives because they left me alone in a cell and didn't even ask any questions. In the morning they brought me to the community court and one of the detectives told me that they would do everything to assist me with this case and charge me with "Prostitution" aka "hand job for $232.50" instead of performing a massage without a license (which is a bigger crime).
I had a criminal lawyer and i went to court 6 times (in September and October of 2006) because i didn't want to agree to plead guilty in return for ACD. I wanted a complete removal of the case, but... hey... i did it. I was probably too naive to understand that i had to be punished in some way. So, after 6 visits to court, i finally agreed with my lawyer and pleaded guilty with a condition to return in 6 months and take my plea back. That's what i did. On the court day i was given an ACD and 6 months later when i came back to withdrew my plea, my case was dismissed.

This is all. My Criminal Lawyer had no immigration experience so he couldn't advise me anything. Right now i'm waiting for my I-751 form to get resolved.

P.S. yes, i perhaps not the best person in terms of moral, but at least i saved my best girlfriends life, because without those money, Sloan Kettering would never accepted her and she wouldn't have her cancer treatment.
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Leana - You don't have to justify your self - we all have done somethings we are ashamed of at 1 point on our life.

Jesus said,"He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her."

Like many have advised you - GO to an immigration lawyer. I would think since you plead not guilty at the end and the case was dismissed that might help. let us know the outcome with your lawyer.
 
Thanks, but i already withdrew my plea. Without a guilty plea prosecutor didn't even want to see/hear me. I would probably spent every Wednesday, up to this day, in the same court room. But even 6 weeks was enough to break me because it was interfering with my job schedule. What else could I do then? I had to pay for what i've done.
And no, i didn't use my GF situation in the court and i told my lawyer not to, because if Sophie would find out, she would have never accepted the money and she would probably erased me from her life.
But if this may help in my current case, i would probably let my lawyer know.
 
Leana said:
In my application form I have indicated that i was arrested and submitted a certificate of disposition along with my explanations of what had happened.
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If you have a copy of that additional explanation, bring that to your immigration lawyer along with the other documents (court disposition etc.). The lawyer will have to be aware of whatever you have already admitted.

Lesson learned: when you walk away from a regretful past, don't go back to it even for a minute. If you continued with your life in your new job and didn't go back to that place for that one night, you would not have landed in this mess.
 
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Jackolantern said:
If you have a copy of that additional explanation, bring that to your immigration lawyer along with the other documents (court disposition etc.). The lawyer will have to be aware of whatever you have already admitted.

Lesson learned: when you walk away from a regretful past, don't go back to it even for a minute. If you continued with your life in your new job and didn't go back to that place for that one night, you would not have landed in this mess.
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Sorry but who are you again to give people lessons?
 
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