NORTHAMPTON — A Jamaican-born New York man in Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody will have his sentence voided following the ruling of a Hampshire Superior Court judge.

Judge Richard Carey ruled Friday to vacate the guilty plea of Shawn A. Davis, 32, of Albany, New York, in a Hampshire County drug case.

Davis, who was arrested in Cummington and is a green-card holder, pleaded guilty in July 2013 to possession with intent to distribute cocaine and conspiracy to violate drug laws. He was sentenced to serve one year in the house of correction and in early 2014 completed his sentence and was released, according to court documents. The conviction was his first and only criminal case.

Under the U.S. Immigration and Nationality Act, a permanent legal resident who has been convicted of a drug crime (or a conspiracy or attempt to commit one), among other offenses, may be subject to deportation.

In his ruling, Carey wrote that Davis’ original attorney, Geoffrey Nathan, failed to give him clear or correct advice about the deportation consequences of pleading guilty.

“It is inconceivable that Davis would have knowingly set himself up for deportation when the evidence shows that his entire life, his family and friends, are all centered in Albany, New York, where he has lived since he was a very young child, and that he has no meaningful connection to Jamaica,” Carey wrote.

It is unclear what effect Carey’s ruling will have on Davis’ immigration status. His attorney, Greg Johnson of Boston, did not return calls for comment.

On Dec. 12, 2016, ICE officers picked Davis up from his home and took him to a federal detention facility where they initiated deportation proceedings, based on his conviction in Hampshire Superior Court. He has been in custody since that time.

During the July 14 motion hearing in Hampshire Superior Court, Davis’ sister Sharna Davis detailed the meetings and interactions she had with her younger brother’s attorney following his arrest in January 2013. The Davis siblings and Nathan first met on Feb. 6, 2013, in Boston for about 30 minutes, according to Sharna Davis’ testimony in court.

“There was no discussion then, or at any point in Nathan’s representation of Davis, about filing motions for discovery, to dismiss, or for suppression of evidence,” Carey wrote. “At that first meeting, Nathan told Davis that ‘there’s no way out’ of a conviction and he assured Davis that he would get him the ‘best deal possible.’”

The family met next with Nathan briefly before court appearances in Northampton District Court and Hampshire Superior Court. A meeting was planned on July 7, 2013, but when the Davis arrived at Nathan’s office, he was not there.

As Sharna Davis recounted her interactions with her brother’s attorney, she remembered a brief conversation about Shawn Davis’ citizenship status. Shawn Davis moved to the U.S. as a 6-year-old from Jamaica.

Both Sharna and Shawn Davis, who testified by phone from the detention facility, recalled Nathan saying Shawn didn’t sound like he was from Jamaica.

“If he keeps his mouth shut, he should fly under the radar,” Sharna Davis recalled Nathan saying.

In his ruling, Carey wrote “this casual observation was plainly wrong. Davis’s deportation was practically inevitable under Federal law in light of Davis’s guilty pleas.”

As part of normal court proceedings in a plea deal, Davis signed a court document stating he was aware of the risk of deportation, and was read a warning by Carey during the July 2013 hearing.

“Despite being informed by the court about the immigration consequences of his guilty pleas and signing the waiver acknowledging the possibility of deportation, Davis relied upon Nathan’s erroneous advice, believing that Nathan was acting in his best interest,” Carey wrote. “As a result of that advice, Davis’s pleas were not entered knowingly, intelligently, or voluntarily.”

During his testimony, Davis told Carey if he had known it would cost him any chance of becoming a citizen he wouldn’t have taken the plea deal.

“I would have rather gone to trial if I had known it would come to this,” Davis said.

Emily Cutts can be reached at ecutts@gazettenet.com.

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