UNITED STATES OF AMERICA v. JUAN ANTONIO MORENO-TAPIA
US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, Harris, Jan. 26, 2017,
Immigration – State crime of violence conviction resulting in deportation could provide basis for wrongful re-entry conviction and enhanced sentence, even where state conviction was subsequently vacated on non-constitutional grounds.

Facts:
Moreno-Tapia pled guilty in 2007 to three counts of “indecent liberties with a child,” but claimed that “neither his counsel nor the court informed him of the potential immigration consequences.”

In 2009, he was deported.

In 2010, the Supreme Court decided Padilla, holding that the Sixth Amendment requires a defense attorney to advise a non-citizen client of the immigration risks of a guilty plea.

Moreno-Tapia illegally returned to North Carolina, and in 2014 was charged with illegal re-entry under 8 USC 1326. Moreno-Tapia’s state conviction was vacated in 2015 (questionably, as the Supreme Court held in 2013 that Padilla is not to be applied retroactively), but this didn’t affect his conviction for wrongful re-entry.