United States v. Murillo, 422 F.3d 1152 (9th Cir. Sept. 9, 2005) ("in determining whether Washington state criminal conviction is of a crime punishable by a term exceeding one year for purposes of prosecution under 18 U.S.C. 922(g)(1) (felon in possession of a firearm), maximum sentence for the prior conviction is defined by state criminal statute, not the maximum sentence in the particular case set by Washington's sentencing guidelines.").

Daniel M. Kowalski, Sentencing Options for the Deportable Non-Citizen, 8 fed. Sentencing Rep. 286 (1996).

The New York State Defenders Assocation's Immigrant Defense Project mentioned by Sophie Feal has call in hours on Tuesdays and Thursdays and will very kindly walk you through any New York crimmimm issues.  Defense lawyers and others (including immigrants themselves) seeking backup support or counseling on criminal/immigration law issues should contact the Project on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 1:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. at (212) 898-4132, or write to the Project at 2 Washington Street, 7 North, New York, NY 10004.

If no sentence has been imposed, the defendant does not have a final conviction for immigration purposes. See Pino v. Landon, 349 U.S. 901 (1955) (stating that a criminal conviction may not be considered by the immigration authorities until it is final); see also Parr v. United States, 351 U.S. 513, 518, 76 S.Ct. 912, 916, 100 L.Ed. 1377 (1956) ("Final judgment in a criminal case means sentence.") (quoting Berman v. United States, 302 U.S. 211, 212, 58 S. Ct. 164, 166, 82 L. Ed. 204 (1937)); United States v. Douglas, 974 F. 2d. 1046, 1048 n.2 (9th Cir. 1992)(citing United States v.

United States v. Benitez-Perez367 F.3d 1200 (9th Cir. May 20, 2004) ("sentence imposed" for purposes of 2L1.2(b)(1) means the actual sentence imposed by the judge; parole [unlike probation] is not to be considered in determination of the "actual sentence imposed").
http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/data2/circs/9th/0310419p.pdf

A one-year sentence which is assessed and then imposition or execution of which is suspended constitutes a sentence under INA § 101(a)(48)(B), 8 U.S.C. § 1101(a)(48)(B). In Georgia, for example, a defendant who receives probation will also receive a suspended sentence. See United States v. Ayala-Gomez, 255 F.3d 1314 (11th Cir. 2001). A defendant who gets probation in Georgia will have a sentence for immigration purposes not because probation is a sentence, but because Georgia probation includes a suspended sentence.

Ilchuk v. Attorney General, ___ F.3d ___, 2006 WL 90124 (3d Cir. Jan. 17, 2006) (sentence to six to 23 months home arrest constituted sentence to imprisonment, for purposes of converting theft offense into aggravated felony conviction under INA 101(a)(43)(G), 8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(43)(G), for immigration purposes, even though it does not constitute imprisonment under the sentencing guidelines: "[F]or purposes of the United States Sentencing Guidelines, home confinement has been found not to constitute imprisonment. See, e.g., United States v. Phipps, 68 F.3d 159, 162 (7th Cir.1995).

Ali v. Ashcroft, ___ F.3d ___ (7th Cir. Jan. 11, 2005) (Illinois conviction of possession with intent to distribute THC, in violation of Wis. Stat. 961.41(1m)(h)(1), was punishable as a felony under state law because of an unrelated prior conviction, and therefore was an aggravated felony under the drug-trafficking portion of INA 101(a)(43)(B), 8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(43)(B), even though the state felony characterization depended on a recidivist enhancement), failing to discuss United States v. Corona-Sanchez, 291 F.3d 1201 (9th Cir. 2002) (en banc).

United States v. Ballesteros-Ruiz, 319 F.3d 1101 (9th Cir. Feb. 10, 2003) (Arizona second conviction of possession of marijuana, in violation of A.R.S.

Holland v. Jackson, 124 S.Ct. 2736 (June 28, 2004) (Sixth Circuit erred in holding state court's application of Strickland was unreasonable on    evidence not properly before state court, and finding that district court wrongly assessed prejudice under preponderance standard, rather than reasonable probability standard).
http://laws.lp.findlaw.com/us/000/03-1200.html