Tapia

In July 1996, Carlos R. Tapia pled guilty to one count of robbery. A three-year state prison sentence was imposed and suspended, and “formal” probation was granted for a term of three years (which meant it would expire on July 10, 1999). Tapia was ordered to spend one year in jail, then to report to the probation department “within 24 hours of [his] release”; if he left the Country, he was not to re-enter illegally; if he did return, he was “to report to the probation officer within 24 hours of [his] return and present documentation that [he was] in the Country legally

Upon his release from custody in late 1996, Tapia was deported to Mexico. In March 1997, when the trial court was informed that Tapia had failed to report to the probation department, his probation was summarily revoked and a bench warrant was issued. Tapia was arrested when he returned to California in September 2000, and a probation violation hearing was held in November 2000. Tapia admitted that he “did not report to [his] probation officer when [he] returned to the United States” in September 2000, and that he “did not, when [he] came back to the United States, show proof that [he was] in the United…