Opinion
111303
07-15-2021
The PEOPLE of the State of New York, Respondent, v. Dennis E. JONES, Appellant.
Rural Law Center of New York, Castleton ( Kelly L. Egan of counsel), for appellant. Karen A. Heggen, District Attorney, Ballston Spa (Gordon W. Eddy of counsel), for respondent.
Rural Law Center of New York, Castleton ( Kelly L. Egan of counsel), for appellant.
Karen A. Heggen, District Attorney, Ballston Spa (Gordon W. Eddy of counsel), for respondent.
Before: Garry, P.J., Egan Jr., Lynch, Clark and Aarons, JJ.
MEMORANDUM AND ORDER
Appeal from a judgment of the County Court of Saratoga County (Murphy III, J.), rendered August 24, 2018, convicting defendant upon his plea of guilty of the crime of criminal possession of a controlled substance in the first degree.
In satisfaction of a superior court information, as well as other pending drug and weapons charges and potential drug trafficking charges, defendant pleaded guilty to criminal possession of a controlled substance in the first degree and purportedly waived his right to appeal. In accord with the terms of the plea agreement, County Court sentenced defendant to a prison term of 14 years followed by five years of postrelease supervision. Defendant appeals.
The People concede, and our review of the record confirms, that the waiver of the right to appeal is invalid. Therefore, defendant is not precluded from challenging the sentence imposed as harsh and excessive ( see People v. Mosher, 191 A.D.3d 1170, 1171, 140 N.Y.S.3d 337 [2021], lv denied 37 N.Y.3d 959, 147 N.Y.S.3d 509, 170 N.E.3d 383 [2021] ). Nevertheless, although defendant was 65 years old at the time of sentencing and had no recent criminal convictions, we are unpersuaded that extraordinary circumstances exist warranting a reduction of the agreed-upon sentence in the interest of justice ( see People v. Molina, 73 A.D.3d 1292, 1293, 900 N.Y.S.2d 787 [2010], lv denied 15 N.Y.3d 807, 908 N.Y.S.2d 167, 934 N.E.2d 901 [2010] ).
Garry, P.J., Egan Jr., Lynch, Clark and Aarons, JJ., concur.
ORDERED that the judgment is affirmed.