PRECEDENTIAL UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE THIRD CIRCUIT ___________ No. 20-1273 __________ VICTOR SASAY, a/k/a Victor Sesay, a/k/a Hermes Herrera- Cuba, Petitioner v. ATTORNEY GENERAL UNITED STATES OF AMERICA ____________________________________ On Petition for Review of a Final Order of the Board of Immigration Appeals (A058-985-272) Immigration Judge: Audra Behne ____________________________________ Argued September 22, 2020 Before: SMITH, Chief Judge, McKEE, and JORDAN Circuit Judges (Opinion filed: September 10, 2021) ___________ Benjamin J. Osorio, Esq. Murray Osorio 4103 Chain Bridge Road Suite 300 Fairfax, VA 22030 Mark A. Stevens, Esq. [ARGUED] Clark Hill 1001 Pennsylvania Avenue N.W. Suite 1300 South Washington, DC 20004 Counsel for Petitioner Joseph H. Hunt, Assistant Attorney General Cindy S. Ferrier, Assistant Director Joseph A. O'Connell, Esq. [ARGUED] United States Department of Justice Office of Immigration Litigation P.O. Box 878 Ben Franklin Station Washington, DC 20044 Counsel for Respondent ___________ OPINION ___________ McKEE, Circuit Judge. Victor Sasay petitions for review of the Board of Immigration Appeals’ ruling that his conviction for aggravated identity theft in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1028A(a)(1) is a crime involving moral turpitude (“CIMT”), thus making him removable pursuant to 8 U.S.C. § 1227(a)(2)(A)(ii). Sasay asserts that aggravated identity theft is not a CIMT because it only criminalizes possession of another person’s identity documents and does not require the use or the intent to use the documents. For the reasons that follow, we will deny the petition for review. I. A. Factual and Procedural History Victor Sasay is a native and citizen of Sierra Leone. He was admitted to the United States as a lawful permanent resident in 2007. In 2015, he was convicted of misdemeanor credit card fraud under Virginia law1 and sentenced to 175 days’ imprisonment.2 In 2018, he was convicted in South 1 Va. Code § 18.2-195(3). 2 Appx. at 5–6. 2 Dakota of aiding and abetting aggravated identity theft in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1028A(a)(1) and sentenced to 24 months’ imprisonment.3 That conviction is the one at the center of this dispute. It resulted from Sasay and his co- defendants purchasing credit card numbers online and using counterfeit access devices to acquire hundreds of credit and debit cards from multiple stores across the Midwest.4 A noncitizen, lawful permanent resident is removable when she or he is convicted of “two or more crimes involving moral turpitude, not arising out of a single scheme of criminal misconduct.”5 The Department of Homeland Security concluded that both of Sasay’s convictions were CIMTs and that they arose from separate criminal schemes. Accordingly, DHS initiated removal proceedings. Sasay applied for several forms of relief including asylum, withholding of removal, protection under the Convention Against Torture, and cancellation of removal.6 3 Id. at 6. Although Sasay was convicted of aiding and abetting aggravated identity theft as opposed to aggravated identity theft, we treat the commission of those crimes the same when considering whether a criminal offense is a CIMT. See 18 U.S.C. § 2(a) (“Whoever commits an offense against the United States or aids, …
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