Jorge Bueno-Muela v. Jefferson B. Sessions, III
Opinion
Jorge Bueno-Muela, a citizen of Mexico, petitions for review of a decision that he is removable from the United States. The Board of Immigration Appeals concluded that Bueno-Muela's prior conviction in Missouri for possession of a controlled substance made him removable. We agree with the Board and therefore deny the petition.
Bueno-Muela was admitted to the United States on a visa in 2005 and became a lawful permanent resident in 2012. In November 2015, he pleaded guilty to possession of methamphetamine, in violation of
The government commenced removal proceedings under
An immigration judge concluded that Bueno-Muela's state conviction made him removable, and the Board of Immigration Appeals dismissed Bueno-Muela's administrative appeal. The Board reasoned that the question of removability turned on whether the elements of Bueno-Muela's state offense were a categorical match to the elements of § 1227(a)(2)(B)(i).
See
Descamps v. United States
,
At the time of Bueno-Muela's offense,
In
Martinez v. Sessions
, No. 16-4242, slip op.,
Salmons
and
Harris
similarly resolve the means-versus-elements question in this case. Although Bueno-Muela was convicted under a different statutory section, nothing in the statute or other sources of Missouri law suggests that the identity of a controlled substance is treated differently in the drug possession statute, § 195.202, than in the drug trafficking statute, § 195.211. Both sections cross-reference the same list of controlled substances, and "possession of methamphetamine in violation of section 195.202 is a lesser-included offense of possession of methamphetamine with intent to deliver in violation of section 195.211."
State v. Neher
,
Bueno-Muela contends that the identity of a controlled substance cannot be an element of the offense because it operates instead as the unit of prosecution. He asserts that by forbidding the possession of "
a
controlled substance" under § 195.202, the Missouri legislature intended merely to authorize separate prosecutions for the possession of each controlled substance, thereby avoiding any double-jeopardy concerns arising from cumulative punishments for the same offense. Bueno-Muela then claims that it would have been unnecessary to write the statute in this way if each controlled substance were an element of the offense. But the Missouri Court of Appeals in
Harris
concluded that it was precisely the use of the singular in "
a
controlled substance" that made possession of each controlled substance a "separate and distinct
offense
."
Bueno-Muela's other arguments about the statutory text, approved jury instruction, and Missouri case law echo the contentions raised by the petitioner in
Martinez
. We reject them for the same reasons.
See
Martinez
, No. 16-4242, op. at 5-7,
Because the identity of a controlled substance is an element of the drug possession offense under § 195.202, the statute is divisible based on the substance involved. The Board properly consulted the record of conviction to determine whether Bueno-Muela was convicted of violating a state law relating to a controlled substance listed in the federal drug schedules. Bueno-Muela's record of conviction establishes
that he pleaded guilty to a count charging that he "possessed
methamphetamine
, a controlled substance, knowing of its presence and nature." Methamphetamine is a Schedule III controlled substance under
The petition for review is denied.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Jorge BUENO-MUELA, Petitioner, v. Jefferson B. SESSIONS, III, Attorney General of the United States, Respondent.
- Cited By
- 4 cases
- Status
- Published