Offense
Forged check or monetary instrument
Aggravated Felony (AF)
AF if loss to the victim/s exceeds $10,000; see Advice.
AF as forgery if 1 yr or more; get 364 or less on each count.1Morales-Alegría v. Gonzales, 449 F.3d 1051, 1056 (9th Cir. 2006).
Crime Involving Moral Turpitude (CIMT)
CIMT. See 529(a)(3), 530.5, to try to avoid CIMT.
Other Removal Grounds
No other removal ground.
Advice and Comments
PC 476(a)
To avoid an AF based on conviction of a fraud or deceit offense where loss to the victim > $10k, see PC 484. If that is not possible, follow Advice for PC 470.
Prop 47: Note that immigration authorities will assert they cannot give effect to a Prop 47 redesignation as a misdemeanor.2See discussion in Velasquez-Rios v. Wilkinson, 988 F.3d 1081 (9th Cir. 2021), declining to give effect to the retroactivity clause in Pen C § 18.5(a), because federal law will not give retroactive effect to a state criminal reform statute that purports to change a previously final conviction. It relied on United States v. Diaz, 838 F.3d 968, 975 (9th Cir. 2016), which declined to give effect to a Prop 47 reduction. One can argue that if the property offense at issue also is a wobbler, the reduction should be given federal effect because from its inception the wobbler had the potential to be a misdemeanor. See discussion in Velasquez-Rios at pp 1087-88 of Garcia-Lopez v. Ashcroft, 33 F.3d 334 F.3d 840, 846 (9th Cir. 2003), overruled in part by Ceron v. Holder, 747 F.3d 773, 778 (9th Cir. 2014).
LRA Mandatory Detention: If D was not admitted to the U.S., a conviction or pending charge for this offense might trigger mandatory detention without bond under LRA, although immigration advocates should argue that it does not meet the definition of theft under CA law – see advice on 475(c).. (Note that aside from LRA, people not admitted to U.S. also are subject to MD if they are inadmissible for crimes, and people admitted to the U.S. are subject to MD if they are deportable for certain crimes. See advice on Mandatory Detention.)
SB54: This felony conviction permits law enforcement to notify / transfer to ICE for 15 years. The misdemeanor conviction permits law enforcement notification / transfer for 5 years, unless it is a straight misdemeanor because the loss is $950 or less, in which case NO notification / transfer is permitted. See SB 54 advisory at www.ilrc.org/crimes-summaries.