Criminal Defense of Immigrants

The 1996 statutory definition of conviction provides:

                The term “conviction” means, with respect to an alien, a formal judgment of guilt of the alien entered by a court or, if adjudication of guilt has been withheld, where --

                (i) a judge or jury has found the alien guilty or the alien has entered a plea of guilty or nolo contendere or has admitted sufficient facts to warrant a finding of guilt, and

                (ii) the judge has ordered some form of punishment, penalty, or restraint on the alien’s liberty to be imposed.[21]

[21] INA § 101(a)(48)(A), 8 U.S.C. § 1101(a)(48)(A).