(D)  Crime of Moral Turpitude.  The CMT ground of inadmissibility lists attempt and conspiracy, but no other non-substantive offenses.  The CMT grounds of deportability do not list any non-substantive offenses.   

 

A number of older cases hold that some non-substantive offenses, committed with intent to commit a CMT, are themselves CMTs, but these decisions generally predate the more recent decisions recognizing that various non-substantive offenses do not fall within a ground of deportation when Congress specifically included others, such as attempt and conspiracy.  Still other decisions have found that the non-substantive offense is, by itself, a crime of moral turpitude regardless of the underlying offense.[279]  See § 20.24.

 

[279] See, e.g., Itani v. Ashcroft, 298 F.3d 1213 (11th Cir. Apr. 22, 2002) (federal conviction for misprision of a felony, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 4, constitutes a crime of moral turpitude for purposes of triggering deportation).  See § 20.24, supra, for arguments this case was wrongly decided.

BIA

CONTROLLED SUBSTANCES - DRUG OFFENSES NOT PUNISHED UNDER FEDERAL LAW MAY STILL TRIGGER INADMISSIBILITY
Matter of Martinez-Espinoza, 25 I. & N. Dec. 118 (BIA Nov. 4, 2009) ("section 212(a)(2)(A)(i)(II) of the Act does not require that a State offense be punishable under Federal law in order to support a charge of inadmissibility. Section 212(a)(2)(A)(i)(II) does contain the parenthetical phrase "as defined in section 102 of the Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 802)," but this phrase modifies only its immediate antecedent (i.e., "controlled substance"), not the whole text of the section."), following Escobar Barraza v. Mukasey, 519 F.3d 388 (7th Cir. 2008).

Third Circuit

CONTROLLED SUBSTANCES " FEDERAL FOOD, DRUG, AND COSMETIC ACT VIOLATIONS
Borrome v. Attorney General of the United States, 687 F.3d 150 (3d Cir. Jul. 18, 2012) (federal conviction for unauthorized wholesale distribution in interstate commerce of prescription drugs, in violation of 21 U.S.C. 331(t), 353(e), is not a controlled substances violation for purposes of triggering deportation under INA 237(a)(2)(B)(i)), 8 U.S.C. 1227(a)(2)(B)(i).

Other

CONTROLLED SUBSTANCES " COUNTERFEIT DRUG OFFENSES IN LIEU OF CONTROLLED SUBSTANCES
Practice Advisory, Su Yon Yi and Katherine Brady, Immigrant Legal Resource Center, Burn Statutes and Counterfeit Drug Offenses (2015), see ILRC.org (discussing Matter of Sanchez-Cornejo, 25 I&N Dec. 273 (BIA 2010) (the offense of delivery of a simulated controlled substance in violation of Texas law is not an aggravated felony, as defined by INA 101(a)(43)(B), 8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(43)(B) (2006), but it is a violation of a law relating to a controlled substance under former INA 241(a)(2)(B)(i), 8 U.S.C. 125l(a)(2)(B)(i) (1994))