FOR PUBLICATION
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT
⎫
JOSE ESTUARDO ESTRADA, aka Jose
Fermin Estrada,
No. 05-75772
Petitioner,
Agency No.
v.
⎬
A070-184-862
ERIC H. HOLDER, JR., Attorney
OPINION
General,
Respondent. ⎭
On Petition for Review of an Order of the
Board of Immigration Appeals
Submitted March 4, 2009*
Pasadena, California
Filed March 26, 2009
Before: Diarmuid F. O’Scannlain, Pamela Ann Rymer, and
Kim McLane Wardlaw, Circuit Judges.
Opinion by Judge Rymer
*The panel unanimously finds this case suitable for decision without
oral argument. See Fed. R. App. P. 34(a)(2).
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AILA InfoNet Doc. No. 09050762. (Posted 05/07/09)
COUNSEL
Henry A. Posada, Law Offices of Henry A. Posada, Downey,
California, for the petitioner.
Daniel E. Goldman, Office of Immigration Litigation, Civil
Division, U.S. Department of Justice, Washington, D.C., for
the respondent.
OPINION
RYMER, Circuit Judge:
The question before us is whether an alien whose state con-
viction for possession of drug paraphernalia was expunged
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ESTRADA v. HOLDER
AILA InfoNet Doc. No. 09050762. (Posted 05/07/09)
under state law, but who violated the terms of his probation
before expungement, would have been eligible for relief
under the Federal First Offender Act (FFOA), 18 U.S.C.
§ 3607(a). Generally, expungement of convictions under state
rehabilitative statutes does not negate the immigration conse-
quences of the conviction. Notwithstanding this, an alien is
not removable if—had he been prosecuted in federal court—
he would have qualified for relief under the FFOA. The
FFOA relieves certain first-time offenders convicted on drug
possession charges of what would otherwise be the immigra-
tion consequences of the conviction. However, FFOA relief is
unavailable when an offender has violated a condition of pro-
bation. See 18 U.S.C. § 3607(a). For this reason, we deny the
petition brought by Jose Estuardo Estrada, a native and citizen
of Guatemala, whose application for adjustment to permanent
resident status was denied and whom t