Nguyen

Defendant Dal Van Nguyen appeals his conviction under 8 U.S.C. § 1253 (b) for willful failure to comply with terms of release under supervision. The term in question required that Nguyen not “commit any crimes.” His conviction was based solely upon proof that he had previously been convicted of two Alaska state misdemeanors following pleas of nolo contende-re. Nguyen argues on appeal that, because a nolo contendere plea is not an admission of guilt to the underlying crime, a conviction based on such a plea does not prove that he “committed] any crimes.” He further argues that his state convictions should not have been admitted into evidence in his trial on the federal charge. We agree and reverse the conviction.

I. Background

Nguyen, a citizen of Vietnam, lawfully immigrated to the United States in 1990, when he was a teenager. A decade later, he was convicted as an adult of a misdemeanor drug possession offense and ordered removed to Vietnam. Because the United States and Vietnam do not have a repatriation agreement, however, the Government has not been able to remove Nguyen. Consequently, the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (“ICE”) released Nguyen from…