Opinion
552 KA 20-01649
06-03-2022
The PEOPLE of the State of New York, Respondent, v. Tyler A. LIBERATORE, Defendant-Appellant.
CHARLES J. GREENBERG, AMHERST, FOR DEFENDANT-APPELLANT. MARK S. SINKIEWICZ, DISTRICT ATTORNEY, WATERLOO, FOR RESPONDENT.
CHARLES J. GREENBERG, AMHERST, FOR DEFENDANT-APPELLANT.
MARK S. SINKIEWICZ, DISTRICT ATTORNEY, WATERLOO, FOR RESPONDENT.
PRESENT: WHALEN, P.J., SMITH, CENTRA, LINDLEY, AND BANNISTER, JJ.
MEMORANDUM AND ORDER
It is hereby ORDERED that the judgment so appealed from is unanimously affirmed.
Memorandum: On appeal from a judgment convicting him, upon his plea of guilty, of criminal possession of a controlled substance in the third degree ( Penal Law § 220.16 [1] ), defendant contends that his plea was involuntarily entered because the prosecutor threatened to present the case to the grand jury the next day if he did not accept the plea offer and because County Court implicitly threatened to impose a more severe sentence if defendant was convicted after trial. Defendant failed to preserve his contention for our review inasmuch as he did not move to withdraw his plea or to vacate the judgment of conviction (see People v. Thigpen-Williams , 198 A.D.3d 1366, 1367, 152 N.Y.S.3d 663 [4th Dept. 2021] ; People v. Hilton , 115 A.D.3d 1358, 1359, 982 N.Y.S.2d 681 [4th Dept. 2014] ). In any event, we see no basis in the record for concluding that defendant's plea was involuntarily entered. The case had been pending in local court for months before defendant pleaded guilty, and the court merely advised defendant of his maximum exposure if convicted of the most serious offense for which he was charged (see People v. Gast , 114 A.D.3d 1270, 1270-1271, 980 N.Y.S.2d 221 [4th Dept. 2014], lv denied 22 N.Y.3d 1198, 986 N.Y.S.2d 419, 9 N.E.3d 914 [2014] ; People v. Boyde , 71 A.D.3d 1442, 1443, 897 N.Y.S.2d 570 [4th Dept. 2010], lv denied 15 N.Y.3d 747, 906 N.Y.S.2d 820, 933 N.E.2d 219 [2010] ; People v. Berezansky , 229 A.D.2d 768, 769-770, 646 N.Y.S.2d 574 [3d Dept. 1996], lv denied 89 N.Y.2d 919, 654 N.Y.S.2d 721, 677 N.E.2d 293 [1996] ).