| People v Aljerari |
| 2013 NY Slip Op 06037 [109 AD3d 1049] |
| September 26, 2013 |
| Appellate Division, Third Department |
| The People of the State of New York,Respondent, v Suzanne F. Aljerari, Appellant. |
—[*1] Gerald F. Mollen, District Attorney, Binghamton (Joshua S. Shapiro of counsel), forrespondent.
Appeal from a judgment of the County Court of Broome County (Smith, J.),rendered May 17, 2012, convicting defendant upon her plea of guilty of the crime ofattempted robbery in the second degree (two counts).
Defendant was charged in an indictment with robbery in the second degree after sheforcibly stole a purse from an elderly woman walking on the street and knocked her tothe ground. Shortly thereafter, she was charged in a superior court information withrobbery in the second degree following a similar incident in which an employee of a nailsalon operated by defendant's mother attempted to prevent defendant from stealing apurse and was also knocked to the ground. In satisfaction of these charges, defendantpleaded guilty to two counts of attempted robbery in the second degree. Under the termsof the plea agreement, defendant was to be placed on interim probation during whichtime she would participate in a drug treatment program and, if successful, she would thenbe sentenced to five years of probation. If she did not successfully complete the term ofinterim probation due to her noncompliance with the drug treatment program, she wouldbe sentenced to up to 14 years in prison. County Court released defendant on her ownrecognizance pending sentencing during which time she was to reside at AddictionsCrisis Center, a holding facility, until she could be placed in a drug treatment program.Defendant, however, checked herself out of the holding facility before being placed in adrug treatment program. Prior to sentencing, County Court offered defendant one lastopportunity to participate in a drug treatment program to avoid prison, but indicated thatif she failed to [*2]complete the program for any reason,she could be sentenced to 14 years in prison. In the alternative, the court indicated that ifdefendant did not wish to avail herself of the drug treatment program and elected to besentenced immediately, the sentence would be much less than 14 years. After defendantdeclined the option to participate in the drug treatment program, County Court sentencedher to two consecutive prison terms of two years, to be followed by three years ofpostrelease supervision. Defendant appeals.
Defendant's sole argument is that her sentence is harsh and excessive. However,defendant received the minimum term of imprisonment for the crime to which shepleaded guilty (see Penal Law § 70.02 [3] [c]) and we cannot furtherreduce the sentence in this regard. We note that while County Court undertook extensiveefforts to incorporate drug rehabilitation as an alternative to sentencing defendant to timein prison, this was to no avail given defendant's unwillingness to address her drugaddiction. Accordingly, we affirm the judgment of conviction.
Peters, P.J., Lahtinen, McCarthy and Spain, JJ., concur. Ordered that the judgment isaffirmed.