| People v Vargas |
| 2019 NY Slip Op 03103 [171 AD3d 1394] |
| April 25, 2019 |
| Appellate Division, Third Department |
[*1](April 25, 2019)
| The People of the State of New York,Respondent, v Ramon L. Vargas, Appellant. |
Allen E. Stone, Vestal, for appellant, and appellant pro se.
Palmer Pelella, Special Prosecutor, Owego, for respondent.
Clark, J. Appeal from a judgment of the County Court of Broome County (Cawley Jr., J.),rendered December 24, 2015, convicting defendant upon his plea of guilty of the crime of assaultin the second degree.
In satisfaction of a four-count indictment, defendant pleaded guilty to assault in the seconddegree. Thereafter, defendant made a pro se motion to withdraw his plea, claiming, among otherthings, that he was coerced by defense counsel into pleading guilty. County Court denied themotion without a hearing and then sentenced defendant as a second felony offender, inaccordance with the terms of the plea agreement, to a prison term of three years followed by fiveyears of postrelease supervision. Defendant appeals.
We are unpersuaded by defendant's contention that County Court abused its discretion insummarily denying his motion to withdraw his guilty plea. "When a defendant moves towithdraw a guilty plea, the nature and extent of the fact-finding inquiry rests largely in thediscretion of the [j]udge to whom the motion is made and a hearing will be granted only in rareinstances" (People v Brown, 14NY3d 113, 116 [2010] [internal quotation marks, brackets and citation omitted]; see People v Nealon, 166 AD3d1225, 1226 [2018]; People vJabot, 156 AD3d 954, 955 [2017], lv denied 30 NY3d 1116 [2018]). Here, therecord belies defendant's contention that he was coerced into pleading guilty by defense counsel.Defendant stated during the plea colloquy that he had not been forced or coerced into pleadingguilty and was entering the plea freely and voluntarily (see People v Jackson, 163 AD3d 1273, 1274 [2018], lvdenied 32 NY3d 1065 [2018]; People v Carpenter, 93 AD3d 950, 952 [2012], lv denied 19NY3d 863 [2012]). Contrary to defendant's contention, defense counsel's frank advice regardingthe strength of the People's case against defendant and the potential increased sentencingexposure did not amount to coercive or threatening conduct (see People v Schluter, 136 AD3d 1363, 1364 [2016], lvdenied 27 NY3d 1138 [2016]; People v Mohammed, 208 AD2d 1118, 1119 [1994],lv denied 85 NY2d 941 [1995]). In addition, defense counsel negotiated a favorable pleaagreement with the statutory minimum sentence (see Penal Law§§ 70.02 [1] [c]; 70.06 [6] [c]; 120.05 [3]), and nothing in the record reflectsthat defendant received less than meaningful representation (see People v Jackson, 163AD3d at 1274). Morever, in denying the motion to withdraw, County Court found it significantthat defendant offered to withdraw the motion in exchange for a more lenient sentence. Underthese circumstances, we find that County Court did not abuse its discretion in denying, without ahearing, defendant's motion to withdraw his plea (see id. at 1275; People v Jabot,156 AD3d at 955; People v Carpenter, 93 AD3d at 952). Defendant's remainingcontentions raised in his pro se brief are without merit.
Garry, P.J., Egan Jr., Lynch and Aarons, JJ., concur. Ordered that the judgment isaffirmed.