DENVER (AP) — The 10th Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled that a Colorado man cannot be deported from the United States based on his drug conviction.
The Denver Post reports Everett Johnson is a citizen of the Bahamas who became a “permanent resident” of the U.S. in 1977.
He pleaded guilty in 2016 to possessing a schedule II controlled substance in Colorado.
Based on the drug conviction, the Department of Homeland Security and the Board of Immigration Appeals sought Johnson’s removal from the U.S. back to the Bahamas.
The court ruled a state drug conviction cannot qualify as a basis for removal if the state statute’s elements are broader than the federal analogue.
