Opinion
October 17, 2000.
Judgment, Supreme Court, New York County (Leslie Crocker Snyder, J.), rendered December 1, 1997, convicting defendant, upon his plea of guilty, of attempted criminal possession of a controlled substance in the second degree, and sentencing him to a term of 8 years to life, unanimously affirmed.
Shari Michels, for respondent.
Elon Harpaz, for defendant-appellant.
Before: Sullivan, P.J., Rosenberger, Mazzarelli, Rubin, Buckley, JJ.
After a sufficient inquiry, the court properly denied defendant's motion to withdraw his guilty plea, without a hearing and without appointment of new counsel. The record establishes that a favorable and voluntary plea was entered after a thorough allocution, that defendant's claim that he was misinformed by counsel as to the charge to which he pleaded guilty (a violation instead of a class A felony) was patently meritless, and that the court rejected this claim prior to directing an inquiry at defense counsel (see, People v. Rodriguez, 189 A.D.2d 684, lv denied 81 N.Y.2d 892).
Defendant's valid waiver of his right to appeal forecloses any challenge to the alleged excessiveness of his sentence (People v. Seaberg, 74 N.Y.2d 1, 9-10).
THIS CONSTITUTES THE DECISION AND ORDER OF SUPREME COURT, APPELLATE DIVISION, FIRST DEPARTMENT.