Do you need to obey US law?
You have the choice of lying on the ESTA form - you may or may not get caught out - or applying to the US Embassy for a visa. You must declare it then. They will decide whether it's moral turpitude or not - there is no clear cut one to one relationship between UK categories and US ones so different sites have differing views.
My understanding is if you admit to it (ie don't lie) on the ESTA form you will be refused and told to apply for a visa