Immigration Crimes: Possession of Authentic Immigration Document can be Crime if Obtained by False Statement

Update: US Supreme Court has declined certiorari. October 6, 2009. The question remains whether the Government will deport Mr. Krstic.
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On March 10, 2009, the 9th Circuit reversed the dismissal of an indictment against Defendant Krstic, charged with 18 USC 1546(a), on the grounds that he made false statements and obtained lawful permanent resident visa. United States v Krstic.

" We are confronted with a thorny question of statutory interpretation to discern whether an alien may be prosecuted for possession of an authentic immigration document obtained by means of a false statement.

" The superseding indictment, filed on October 16, 2007, alleged in relevant part that [Krstic] . . . did knowingly possess an alien registration receipt card . . . which [he] knew to have been
procured by means of materially false claims and the I-485 form, styled “Application to Register as a Permanent Resident Or Adjust Status,” is required as part of an application to become a lawful permanent resident of the United States."


"The indictment did not allege that the alien registration receipt card itself was forged, counterfeited, altered, or falsely made. Rather, it simply charged Krstic with obtaining an alien registration card by means of a false statement. Krstic moved to dismiss the indictment, contending that possessing an authentic immigration document procured by means of a false statement does not constitute an offense under § 1546(a). He argued that § 1546(a) criminalizes possession only of an already forged, counterfeited, altered, or falsely made immigration document. The district court agreed with Krstic and dismissed the indictment. The United States timely appealed."