A Manhattan Criminal Court judge granted a motion to vacate an immigrant’s 18-year-old conviction on misdemeanor drug possession charges on the grounds of ineffective assistance of counsel.

Julio Morales told Judge Louis Nock at a Dec. 29, 2015, CPL 440 hearing that his assigned counsel told him the conviction would be viewed as “something minor” and he would be eligible for a pardon from immigration officials if removal proceedings were ever initiated. Morales pleaded guilty.