Opinion
7254 Ind. 1497/13
10-09-2018
Marianne Karas, Thornwood, for appellant. Cyrus R. Vance, Jr., District Attorney, New York (Oliver McDonald of counsel), for respondent.
Marianne Karas, Thornwood, for appellant.
Cyrus R. Vance, Jr., District Attorney, New York (Oliver McDonald of counsel), for respondent.
Renwick, J.P., Manzanet–Daniels, Mazzarelli, Webber, Singh, JJ.
Judgment, Supreme Court, New York County (Edward J. McLaughlin, J.), rendered October 29, 2014, convicting defendant, upon his plea of guilty, of operating as a major trafficker and conspiracy in the second degree, and sentencing him, as a second felony drug offender, to an aggregate term of 19 years, unanimously modified, as a matter of discretion in the interest of justice, to the extent of reducing the sentence on the trafficking conviction to 15 years, and otherwise affirmed.
Defendant's challenges to the validity of his plea do not fall within the narrow exception to the preservation requirement (see People v. Conceicao , 26 N.Y.3d 375, 382, 23 N.Y.S.3d 124, 44 N.E.3d 199 [2015] ), and we decline to review these unpreserved claims in the interest of justice. As an alternative holding, we find that the plea was knowingly, intelligently and voluntarily made. The record does not establish any misunderstanding by counsel of the scope of sentencing or that the plea was coerced by any conduct by the court (see e.g. People v. Rivera , 118 A.D.3d 626, 987 N.Y.S.2d 850 [1st Dept. 2014], lv denied 24 N.Y.3d 964, 996 N.Y.S.2d 223, 20 N.E.3d 1003 [2014] ).
We do not, however, find that defendant made a valid appeal waiver, and we find the sentence excessive to the extent indicated.