KWANG HYEN PARK, No. 21-70623, 9th Circuit

Petitioner Kwang Park is a lawful permanent resident and South Korean native and citizen. Granted the privilege of living in the US, he decided to become a violent drug dealer. He was arrested twice in three days for numerous drug-related crimes. He was also driving around with a loaded handgun.

He possessed a variety of illegal substances and other paraphernalia evidencing drug trafficking at both arrests, and he pleaded guilty to 13 charges, including possession of cocaine for sale. Let’s take a look at the 2 arrests:

A. First Arrest

On April 3, 2018, Park was stopped by California Highway Patrol for speeding and improperly changing lanes. Officers discovered that Park was driving with a suspended license and without insurance. They also observed signs of intoxication and required Park to perform a “series of field sobriety tests,” which he failed.

During a search of Park’s car, officers found a loaded handgun and a canister of cocaine in a female passenger’s purse. They also found over $2,600, including “a large amount of hundred dollar bills,” in Park’s wallet, two airsoft guns that resembled firearms, three small bags of cocaine, Xanax, numerous containers of cannabis, a scale covered “with white powdery residue,” seven .40 caliber bullets, and a lock pick set. Park admitted that the handgun was his and that “the white powdery substance was cocaine.”

The officers arrested Park, and he was charged with numerous drug or firearm-related offenses, including unlawful possession of a controlled substance with a firearm.

B. Second Arrest

Three days later, Park posted bail and retrieved his car from police impoundment in the morning. Why he was given bail is another story. That night, with no fear of the US authorities, Park was stopped again for speeding and for driving without a front license plate and with an improperly obstructed rear license plate. During the stop, Park admitted that there was a bag of cocaine under his seat. Officers again searched Park’s car and found the bag under Park’s seat, which contained 0.8 grams of cocaine, as well as four more small bags in the center console that each contained between 1.2 and 1.4 grams of cocaine.

An officer also noticed that Park’s car radio appeared to have been tampered with, and after removing the cover plate, the officer discovered a bag with 16.8 grams of cocaine, three bags containing a total of 137 Xanax pills, a bag with 95 Ecstasy pills, a bag with a single Ecstasy pill, and a scale covered in cocaine residue. During a later inventory of the car, officers also found a ledger showing “quantities of unknown substances” and “total value of these items,” a bag containing a small amount of marijuana, a methamphetamine pipe, two beverage containers modified “to conceal illegal narcotics” covered in cocaine residue, numerous containers that were “consistent with the use to conceal/transport illegal narcotics,” a box of latex gloves, and a bulletproof vest.

Thankfully, Park was again arrested and ultimately charged with, among other things, possession and transportation of cocaine for sale. Park was questioned at the jail, and he admitted that the drugs and other contraband were his but asserted that they must have been in the car since his first arrest because he “would not be driving around with that much weight” and he “stopped carrying product” after his previous arrest. He also stated that no one else had driven his car since he retrieved it from the impound lot, but some friends had ridden in it. Park pleaded guilty to 13 charges arising from his two arrests. At sentencing, he received concurrent 674-day jail terms and five years’ probation.

The Government sought to remove Park from the United States based on his convictions, and he applied for withholding of removal and protection under the Convention Against Torture (“CAT”), among other relief, speculating that he would be persecuted and tortured by the South Korean government if removed. He would rather stay in the US and continue to sell drugs, carry loaded weapons and burglary tools.

Specifically, he claimed that South Korea would (1) re-prosecute and severely punish him for his drug crimes committed in this country and (2) force him to serve in the South Korean military consistent with its military-conscription policy. The immigration judge denied his request to stay in the US and the Board of Immigration Appeals (“BIA”) and the 9th circuit court of appeals agreed. Now there is one less violent drug dealing criminal off the streets.

Park v. Garland (9th Cir. 2023)