Honolulu woman is included among Obama’s pardons

An Na Peng, a Honolulu mother of two who until recently had faced possible deportation for a 1996 conviction, was one of 17 people pardoned by President Barack Obama on Friday.

"She’s just so grateful to President Obama for being one of the very few people in the country who have been granted a pardon," said her attorney, Maile Hirota. "She’s thrilled."

Peng, 44, a legal permanent resident from China, was convicted in 1996 of providing answers to immigrants taking naturalization exams.

Peng was overwhelmed by the unexpected news she received Friday and declined to be interviewed, Hirota said.

Hirota said Peng had filed an application for a pardon in 2006 when George W. Bush was president, and said the "call just came out of the blue today."

Peng recently won her immigration case and won’t be deported, Hirota said.

"This is icing on the cake," she said.

Peng, a native and citizen of China, legally entered the United States on May 3, 1991, as a legal permanent resident based on her marriage to another legal permanent resident.

In the mid-1990s Peng was briefly employed by a testing facility, an affiliate of the Naturalization Assistance Service, which had been authorized by the Immigration and Naturalization Service to administer naturalization examinations.

Peng and other employees were accused of providing answers to exam-takers and changing incorrect answers on completed exams.

Peng pleaded not guilty. The case went to trial, and a jury found her guilty on May 9, 1996, on one count of conspiracy to defraud the INS.

The conviction left her subject to deportation because it was an offense involving "moral turpitude," a legal term defined as vileness or dishonesty of a high degree. She would also have been considered deportable if she received a sentence of one or more years’ imprisonment.

But the law at the time of indictment also allowed a discretionary waiver of deportation unless the person had been convicted of an aggravated felony, which this was not.

"These potential consequences changed just prior to Peng’s trial because the law changed," an opinion by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals noted.

While Peng awaited sentencing, Congress enacted a new law that added a seven-year continuous-presence requirement before a legal permanent resident could apply for a waiver to deportation. But Peng did not qualify.

Peng was sentenced Dec. 2, 1996, to two years’ probation.

Under the new law, crimes of moral turpitude are deportable offenses if the alien is convicted of a crime for which a sentence of one year or longer may be imposed. Because Peng was charged with a crime that allowed for a maximum five years, it would automatically make her deportable.

The INS began Peng’s removal proceedings Sept. 10, 1997.

The Board of Immigration Appeals had rejected Peng’s request to waive her deportability based on certain circumstances.

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals disagreed with the Board of Immigration Appeals and sided with Peng.

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Star-Advertiser reporter Gregg K. Kakesako contributed to this report.