Shoplifting, Larceny, Robbery, Theft shoplifting - scared - please help.

[peter497]

Dear Group,

Your answer will help me put my life at ease,
which as of now is miserable. Please, please do reply.


I am a student, on an F-1 Visa here. The
state is Connecticut. I was recently arrested for
shoplifting, charged with larceny 6th degree,
53a-125b, released on a non-surety bond. I had been to
the court and the prosecutor asked me if I was
arrested before (no I was not). So I applied for the
accelerated pretrial rehabilitation program, was found
eligible at the next court date, so the judge granted
me the program and I am on a three month probation
after which the charges are going to be dismissed. The
judge told me that I was avoiding conviction and that
he would grant the application. Please be kind to
answer a couple of questions that I have:

1. Am I facing a deportation ?
2. What are the consequences this might have on my
future applications for a H1-B visa or a more
permanent visa later on in my life ?
3. Do I have an FBI record related to this incident ?
If so, is there something I could do to clear it. Are
there any other records which point to this incident
and is there something that can be done to expunge
them?
4. Was there an implied admission of guilt here,
although I have not admitted guilt in words or in
writing.
5. Am I going to be stopped/detained at the airport if
I were travel back home after the three months.

Kindly help me out here.
Regards,
pete

 

[NYClex]

You already know the important points in your situation:

Basically yes, theft is a so called crime of moral turpitude. A conviction of or admission of guilt to it will lead to deportation and future inadmissibility to the United States.

The difficulty here is to distinguish between a "conviction", "admission of guilt" and other ways to dispose of a criminal charge. The judge has pointed out to you that you won't be convicted.

Now I am not familiar with Connecticut law so I cannot say exactly what this kind of disposition will mean in the eyes of immigration law. It sounds as if you probably will be off the hook since it sounds like there will be no "adjudication of guilt."

Even if you would be convicted of the crime there is one exception to the general rule of deportability:

If the conviction was for a crime for which the maximum sentence was 1 year or less.
The statute you quoted shows that the crime was a class C misdemeanor which carries a maximum sentence of imprisonment for three months, so it seems you would qualify for this exception.


Yes, you will have a criminal record for immigration purposes.

It can well be that you will be stopped and questioned at ports of entry. You should take copies of your paperwork with you, showing the elements of the case that I mentioned above: the classification of the crime, the maximum sentence, the actual disposition of the case.

As I said I am not an expert on CT law so I don't know if there are possibilities to expunge this from the record, but I doubt it.

Before applying for other visa in the future you might want to consult an immigration attorney and have him review your case.