MEMORANDUM **

Helio Escobar-Cuellar petitions for review of a decision by the Board of Immi *447 gration Appeals (BIA) denying his applications for asylum, withholding of removal, and cancellation of removal. We have jurisdiction under 8 U.S.C. § 1252(a), and we deny the petition.

The BIA properly determined that Es-cobar-Cuellar was ineligible for cancellation of removal because he was previously convicted of a crime involving moral turpitude (“CIMT”) for which a sentence of one year or longer may be imposed. See 8 U.S.C. § 1229b(b)(l)(C); 8 U.S.C. § 1227(a)(2)(i). Namely, Escobar-Cuellar pled guilty to felony grand theft, a crime punishable under California law by up to three years. CaLPenal Code § 489. Es-cobar-Cuellar argues that his conviction was converted to a misdemeanor by operation of California Penal Code § 17(b)(1), but § 17(b)(1) does not apply where, as here, the imposition of sentence was suspended. 1 See United States v. Robinson, 967 F.2d 287, 293 (9th Cir. 1992), recognized as overruled in other part by Ortega-Mendez v. Gonzales, 450 F.3d 1010, 1019-20 (9th Cir. 2006). Therefore, because the record shows that Escobar-Cu-ellar was convicted of CIMT for which a three-year sentence could have been imposed, the BIA properly found that he was ineligible for cancellation of removal.

Substantial evidence supports the BIA’s denial of Escobar-Cuellar’s application for withholding of removal. The BIA’s determination that any persecution suffered by Escobar-Cuellar was on account of his membership in the army, not his political opinion, is supported by the record. Absent any evidence that the guerillas singled out Escobar-Cuellar for his political opinion, evidence of generalized antagonism toward him as an army member does not constitute persecution on a protected ground. See Cruz-Navarro v. INS, 232 F.3d 1024, 1030 (9th Cir. 2000) (rejecting the petitioner’s argument that the guerillas’ had imputed “pro-government, anti-communist political beliefs to him,” and instead concluding that the petitioner “fail[ed] to link his persecution to anything other than his status as a police officer”).

Finally, we note that Escobar-Cuellar did not challenge on appeal the agency’s decision denying his asylum application as untimely.

PETITION FOR REVIEW DENIED.