Commonwealth v. Tokarev

Federal immigration authorities have informed the defendant that he is deportable based on his admission seven years ago to sufficient facts to support a charge of possession of a class B substance. In order to avoid deportation, the defendant moved to vacate his plea on the ground that his lawyer failed to advise him of the immigration consequences of his plea. 1 , 2 During a nonevidentiary hearing on the defendant’s motion, the judge (who had also been the plea judge) noticed that the defendant had not signed the portion of the “green sheet” that applies when the court rejects a defendant’s…