Opinion
01-21-2016
The PEOPLE of the State of New York, Respondent, v. Deon LAWRENCE, Appellant.
Mark Diamond, Albany, for appellant. Robert M. Carney, District Attorney, Schenectady (Peter H. Willis of counsel), for respondent.
Mark Diamond, Albany, for appellant.
Robert M. Carney, District Attorney, Schenectady (Peter H. Willis of counsel), for respondent.
Before: LAHTINEN, J.P., GARRY, ROSE, LYNCH and DEVINE, JJ.
LAHTINEN, J.P.Appeal from a judgment of the County Court of Schenectady County (Meyer, J.), rendered April 25, 2014, convicting defendant upon his plea of guilty of the crime of criminal sale of a controlled substance in the fifth degree.In 2013, after selling cocaine to two undercover police officers, defendant was charged by indictment with one count each of criminal sale of a controlled substance in the third degree and criminal possession of a controlled substance in the third degree. Pursuant to a negotiated plea agreement, defendant pleaded guilty to one count of criminal sale of a controlled substance in the fifth degree in satisfaction of the indictment, waived his right to appeal and was sentenced, as a second felony offender, to 2 ½ years in prison to be followed by two years of postrelease supervision. Defendant now appeals.
We affirm. Upon our review of the record, we find that defendant knowingly, voluntarily and intelligently waived his right to appeal, thereby precluding his challenges to his conviction and sentence (see People v. Walton, 101 A.D.3d 1489, 1489–1490, 956 N.Y.S.2d 705 [2012], lv. denied 20 N.Y.3d 1105, 965 N.Y.S.2d 801, 988 N.E.2d 539 [2013] ) and his claim that he was denied his statutory right to testify before the grand jury (see CPL 190.50[5][a] ; People v. Johnson, 97 A.D.3d 990, 991, 947 N.Y.S.2d 922 [2012] ). Defendant's argument that he was improperly sentenced as a prior felony offender, to the extent preserved, has been reviewed and found to be without merit (see People v. Dixon, 118 A.D.3d 1188, 1189, 987 N.Y.S.2d 704 [2014] ).
ORDERED that the judgment is affirmed.
GARRY, ROSE, LYNCH and DEVINE, JJ., concur.