Rafael Lara-Chacon v. John Ashcroft, Attorney General

Rafael Lara-Chacon (“Petitioner” or “Lara Chacon”), a native and citizen of Mexico, petitions for review of the decision of the Board of Immigration Appeals (“BIA”), dismissing his appeal of the immigration judge’s (“IJ’s”) order finding Lara-Chacon removable for having been convicted of an aggravated felony and for having been convicted of violating a law related to a controlled substance. We grant the petition, vacate the order and remand.

BACKGROUND

Petitioner was admitted to the United States in 1970 as an immigrant. In 1999, he was convicted, based on a guilty plea, of five counts of conspiracy to commit money laundering in violation of Ariz.Rev.Stat. §§ 13-1003, 13-2317(A)(1) and (C), and was sentenced to three and one-half years’ imprisonment. As a result of these convictions, the Immigration and Naturalization Service (“INS”) charged Petitioner with being subject to removal for being an alien convicted of an aggravated felony under the Immigration and Nationality Act (“INA”), § 237(a)(2)(A)(iii).

The INS initially charged Lara Chacon with removability based on money laundering in excess of $10,000, which is defined as an aggravated felony in INA § 101(a)(43)(D). In two…