USCA11 Case: 20-12750 Date Filed: 08/13/2021 Page: 1 of 19 [DO NOT PUBLISH] IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT ________________________ No. 20-12750 Non-Argument Calendar ________________________ Agency No. A078-201-679 IKWAZEMA ERIC ABAKPORO, a.k.a. Ifeanyichukwu Eric Abakporo, Petitioner, versus U.S. ATTORNEY GENERAL, Respondent. ________________________ Petition for Review of a Decision of the Board of Immigration Appeals ________________________ (August 13, 2021) Before MARTIN, BRANCH, and GRANT, Circuit Judges. PER CURIAM: USCA11 Case: 20-12750 Date Filed: 08/13/2021 Page: 2 of 19 Ikwazema Eric Abakporo, proceeding pro se, petitions for review of the Board of Immigration Appeals’ order denying his motion to reopen or reconsider and reissuing its dismissal of his appeal of the immigration judge’s final order of removal. The immigration judge found Abakporo ineligible for cancellation of removal because he had been convicted of an aggravated felony under 8 U.S.C. § 1227(a)(2)(A)(iii). After careful consideration, we dismiss Abakporo’s petition for lack of jurisdiction as to the Board’s dismissal of his appeal and deny it as to the denial of his motion to reopen or reconsider. I. Abakporo, a native and citizen of Nigeria, was admitted to the United States on a visitor’s visa in 1996 and adjusted his status to lawful permanent resident in 2002. In 2014, he was convicted in federal court of conspiracies to commit bank and wire fraud, in addition to substantive bank fraud, and aiding and abetting that offense. In its judgment, the district court ordered Abakporo to pay $2,420,917.64 in restitution, including $36,521.02 to victim JP Morgan Chase Bank N.A., the successor to Washington Mutual N.A. The judgment noted three additional victims with amounts listed for the remaining restitution, but the words “relevant conduct” were handwritten next to those amounts. In 2018, the Department of Homeland Security initiated removal proceedings against Abakporo by filing a notice to appear, charging him as 2 USCA11 Case: 20-12750 Date Filed: 08/13/2021 Page: 3 of 19 removable under 8 U.S.C. § 1227(a)(2)(A)(iii) for having been convicted of an aggravated felony, defined as (1) an attempt or conspiracy to commit a fraud or deceit in which the loss to the victims exceeded $10,000, under 8 U.S.C. § 1101(a)(43)(U); and (2) a fraud or deceit in which the loss to the victims exceeded $10,000, under 8 U.S.C. § 1101(a)(43)(M)(i). Abakporo admitted the factual allegations in the notice to appear but argued that his conviction was not an aggravated felony and that he was therefore eligible for cancellation of removal and adjustment of status. Abakporo then moved to terminate his removal proceedings, arguing that the restitution order in his criminal case was based on uncharged and unadmitted-to conduct that was only proved by a preponderance of the evidence. He argued that the victims did not suffer any actual loss because the fraudulent loans at issue were fully repaid, that Washington Mutual actually profited by $6,000, and that the restitution order was based on relevant conduct, so the Department of Homeland Security had not proven by clear and convincing evidence that …
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