Bad Immigration Advice Equals Ineffective Counsel in Drug Case

A Colorado man convicted of a drug crime won an appeal to revive his ineffective assistance of counsel claim after the Tenth Circuit said his lawyer gave him bad advice on the immigration consequences of his plea.

When Cesar Aguayo-Montes asked his lawyer about a line in his plea agreement warning that he “may” be removed from the US, his lawyer said he wasn’t an immigration attorney and couldn’t say what would happen, but that Aguayo didn’t need to worry about it until got to prison.

After Aguayo—who has lived in Colorado since he was two-years old—learned his plea made ...