Opinion
October 31, 2000.
Judgment, Supreme Court, New York County (Bernard Fried, J.), rendered June 24, 1999, convicting defendant, after a nonjury trial, of criminal sale of a controlled substance in the third degree, and sentencing him, as a second felony offender, to a term of 4 1/2 to 9 years, unanimously affirmed.
Vincent Rivellese, for respondent.
Lisa Joy Robertson, for defendant-appellant.
Before: Nardelli, J.P., Williams, Mazzarelli, Andrias, Saxe, JJ.
The court's verdict was based on legally sufficient evidence and was not against the weight of the evidence. The court properly rejected defendant's agency defense, since the evidence established that defendant acted primarily for his own benefit in negotiating and promoting the sale, and that the benefit he received cannot be described as incidental (see, People v. Lam Lek Chong, 45 N.Y.2d 64, 75, cert denied 439 U.S. 935;People v. Page, 260 A.D.2d 153, lv denied 93 N.Y.2d 928).
THIS CONSTITUTES THE DECISION AND ORDER OF SUPREME COURT, APPELLATE DIVISION, FIRST DEPARTMENT.