Opinion
No. 975 KA 20-00968
12-22-2023
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, RESPONDENT, v. JULIO RESTO, ALSO KNOWN AS BENNY, DEFENDANT-APPELLANT.
THE LEGAL AID BUREAU OF BUFFALO, INC., BUFFALO (BRAEDAN M. GILLMAN OF COUNSEL), FOR DEFENDANT-APPELLANT. LETITIA JAMES, ATTORNEY GENERAL, ALBANY (PAUL G. LYONS OF COUNSEL), FOR RESPONDENT.
THE LEGAL AID BUREAU OF BUFFALO, INC., BUFFALO (BRAEDAN M. GILLMAN OF COUNSEL), FOR DEFENDANT-APPELLANT.
LETITIA JAMES, ATTORNEY GENERAL, ALBANY (PAUL G. LYONS OF COUNSEL), FOR RESPONDENT.
PRESENT: SMITH, J.P., CURRAN, MONTOUR, GREENWOOD, AND NOWAK, JJ.
Appeal from a judgment of the Erie County Court (James F. Bargnesi, J.), rendered November 20, 2019. The judgment convicted defendant upon his plea of guilty of attempted criminal possession of a controlled substance in the first degree.
It is hereby ORDERED that the judgment so appealed from is unanimously affirmed.
Memorandum: Defendant appeals from a judgment convicting him upon his plea of guilty of attempted criminal possession of a controlled substance in the first degree (Penal Law §§ 110.00, 220.21 [1]). Even assuming, arguendo, that defendant's waiver of the right to appeal is invalid (see People v Thomas, 34 N.Y.3d 545, 564-566 [2019], cert denied - U.S. -, 140 S.Ct. 2634 [2020]; People v Alls, 187 A.D.3d 1515, 1515 [4th Dept 2020]) and thus does not preclude our review of his challenge to the severity of the sentence (see Alls, 187 A.D.3d at 1515), we conclude that the sentence is not unduly harsh or severe.