Fernando-Ruiz

I. Factual and Procedural Background

Jose Roberto Fernandez-Ruiz, a native and citizen of Mex- ico, was admitted to the United States as a lawful permanent resident in 1990. In 1992, he pled guilty to the crime of “theft by control of property with a value of $250 or more” in viola- tion of sections 13-1802(A)(1) and (C) of the Arizona Revised Statutes. See ARIZ. REV. STAT. § 13-1802(A)(1) & (C) (1992). He was sentenced to two years probation for the “class six open-ended offense.” In April 1994, he was sen- tenced to sixty days in county jail for a probation violation. Two months later, in June 1994, he again violated a term of his probation and was sentenced to “twelve months at half time” in county jail for that violation. At that time, the Ari- zona court designated the theft offense as a misdemeanor. 18554 FERNANDEZ-RUIZ v. GONZALES Approximately eight years later, in 2002, Fernandez-Ruiz was convicted of misdemeanor domestic violence/assault, in violation of sections 13-1203 and 13-3601 of the Arizona Revised Statutes. See Ariz. Rev. Stat. §§ 13-1203 & 3601. In January, 2003, he was again convicted of domestic violence/ assault pursuant to sections 13-1203…