People v Posey

People v Posey 2015 NY Slip Op 06935 Decided on September 24, 2015 Appellate Division, Third Department Published by New York State Law Reporting Bureau pursuant to Judiciary Law § 431. This opinion is uncorrected and subject to revision before publication in the Official Reports.

Decided and Entered: September 24, 2015
106677

[*1]THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, Respondent,

v

LAWRENCE W. POSEY, Appellant.

Calendar Date: August 10, 2015
Before: Garry, J.P., Egan Jr., Lynch and Devine, JJ.

Robert W. Linville, Public Defender, Hudson (Jessica D. Howser of counsel), for appellant.

Michael Cozzolino, Special Prosecutor, Claverack, for respondent.

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

Appeal from a judgment of the County Court of Columbia County (Koweek, J.), rendered January 15, 2014, convicting defendant upon his plea of guilty of the crime of criminal possession of a controlled substance in the third degree.

Defendant waived indictment and pleaded guilty to criminal possession of a controlled substance in the third degree as charged in a superior court information. Under the terms of the plea agreement, County Court was to sentence defendant, in accordance with a joint recommendation, to three years in prison, to be followed by two years of postrelease supervision, provided that he appeared for sentencing. Defendant, however, fled to Florida where he was convicted of additional drug-related crimes. He was extradited to New York and, when he appeared for sentencing, he was sentenced to 4½ years in prison, to be

followed by two years of postrelease supervision. Defendant now appeals.

Defendant's sole contention is that the enhanced sentence is harsh and excessive. We disagree. Defendant was fully informed of the consequences of failing to appear at sentencing at the time that he entered his guilty plea, but chose to travel to Florida where he remained for a substantial period of time and committed further crimes before being extradited to New York. In view of this, we find no abuse of discretion nor any extraordinary consequences warranting a reduction of the sentence in the interest of justice (see People v Rencher, 65 AD3d 1389, 1390 [2009], lv denied 13 NY3d 910 [2009]; see also People v Johnson, 20 AD3d 591, 592 [2005], lv denied 5 NY3d 807 [2005]).

Garry, J.P., Egan Jr., Lynch and Devine, JJ., concur.

ORDERED that the judgment is affirmed.