NOT PRECEDENTIAL UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE THIRD CIRCUIT ___________ No. 19-3161 JOSE REMEDIO GONZALEZ-REYES, Petitioner, v. ATTORNEY GENERAL UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Respondent. _____________________________________ On Petition for Review of an Order of the Board of Immigration Appeals (No. A036-646-071) Immigration Judge: Alice Song Hartye _____________________________________ Submitted under Third Circuit L.A.R. 34.1(a) April 21, 2020 (Filed June 10, 2020) Before: HARDIMAN, RENDELL and FISHER, Circuit Judges. O P I N I O N* RENDELL, Circuit Judge: Petitioner Jose Gonzalez-Reyes seeks review of the Board of Immigration Appeals’ (BIA) decision to dismiss his appeal and uphold the Immigration Judge’s (IJ) determination that he is removable as an aggravated felon under 8 U.S.C. § 1227(a)(2)(A)(iii). Gonzalez-Reyes argues that neither his conviction of “food stamp fraud” under 7 U.S.C. § 2024(b)(1) nor his wire fraud conviction qualifies as an aggravated felony under 8 U.S.C. § 1101(a)(43)(M)(i). We need not reach the food stamp fraud argument because we find that the wire fraud conviction constitutes an aggravated felony, rendering Gonzalez-Reyes removable under 8 U.S.C. § 1227(a)(2)(A)(iii). We will therefore deny the petition for review.1 I. Background2 Jose Gonzalez-Reyes was admitted to the United States as a lawful permanent resident (LPR) in 1978. He and his wife operated Kelym Grocery, a small convenience store in Baltimore, Maryland, that participated as an authorized retailer in the * This disposition is not an opinion of the full Court and pursuant to I.O.P. 5.7 does not constitute binding precedent. 1 The BIA had jurisdiction under 8 C.F.R. § 1003.1(b)(3). We have jurisdiction to hear this appeal from the BIA under 8 U.S.C. § 1252(a)(1). 2 Because we write for the parties, who are familiar with the facts, we only include what is necessary to explain our decision. 2 Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). Between August 2013 and March 2016, the couple debited customers’ SNAP Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) cards and paid the customers a portion of the value in cash, in violation of the terms of SNAP. The point of sale device they used to debit the funds electronically transmitted wire communications from Maryland to Texas. On August 17, 2016, Gonzalez-Reyes and his wife were charged with one count of food stamp fraud under 7 U.S.C. § 2024(b) along with aiding and abetting under 18 U.S.C. § 2, and one count of wire fraud under 18 U.S.C. § 1343 and aiding and abetting under 18 U.S.C. § 2. Count three of the Indictment—the wire fraud count—alleged that Gonzalez-Reyes “knowingly used and caused to be used a point of sale device inside Kelym Grocery to redeem beneficiaries’ electronic benefits for unauthorized and unlawful purposes” in furtherance of a scheme that resulted in Gonzalez-Reyes and his wife receiving “$879,500 in EBT deposits for food sales that never actually occurred or were substantially inflated.” A.R. 335, 336. The portion of the Indictment charging Gonzalez-Reyes with wire fraud specifically noted one March 2015 transaction of $119.98. On January 30, 2017, Gonzalez-Reyes pled guilty to count one and count three of ...
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