FROM: HOLLEY CARNRIGHT, DISTRICT ATTORNEY
DATE: APRIL 11, 2019
The Appellate Division, Third Department has unanimously affirmed judgments of convictions in the following cases:
People v Fernando Adorno
Defendant was convicted in the Ulster County Court upon his plea of guilty of the crime of burglary in the second degree, a class C violent felony, in January, 2017 as a result of an incident which occurred in 2015 in Plattekill. According to the defendant, he committed this residential burglary to obtain property to sell to fund his heroin addiction.
Following his plea to burglary in the second degree in the Ulster County Court (Donald A. Williams, J.), at which time he also waived his right to appeal, defendant was sentenced to a State prison term of four and one-half years to be followed by five years of postrelease supervision.
On appeal, defendant argued that the agreed upon State prison term of four and one-half years followed by five years of postrelease supervision was unduly harsh and excessive. The Appellate Division, Third Department, however, rejected defendant’s claim, noting that his argument is precluded by his valid waiver of appeal.
On appeal, the defendant is represented by Justin Brusgul, Esq. of Voorheesville, New York. Assistant District Attorney Joan Gudesblatt Lamb, Esq. handled the appeal for the District Attorney’s Office.
People v Omaida Perez
Defendant was convicted in March, 2016 in the Ulster County Court upon her plea of guilty to the crimes of grand larceny in the fourth degree and burglary in the third degree. Defendant’s conviction stems from an incident which occurred in August, 2014 at which time she stole two shotguns from a residence in Wawarsing where she worked as a cleaning lady and pawned them for $750 in cash. She later stole $800 from her employer under the false pretense that she would be able to recover the stolen weapons she had pawned. Instead, Defendant apparently used the money to buy heroin and claimed she was unable to locate the weapons.
Pursuant to a negotiated plea agreement at which time she waived her right to appeal, defendant pled guilty to grand larceny in the fourth degree, a class E felony, in exchange for a split sentence of six months in jail and five years probation. She was, however, warned that her sentence would be enhanced if she committed additional offenses pending sentence. In fact, defendant committed another burglary while at liberty. Subsequently, defendant pled guilty to the burglary and was sentenced to one and one-third to four years on the grand larceny and two and one-third to seven on the burglary conviction.
On appeal, defendant claimed that the sentences imposed by County Court, which were the maximum allowed by law, were unduly harsh and excessive, but that contention, as the Appellate Division found, was precluded by her unchallenged waiver of appeal. Defendant also claimed that the Court improperly denied her post-judgment applications for deferral and/or remission of the restitution and surcharges imposed, but those claims were not properly before the Court.
On appeal, the defendant is represented by Marshall Nadan, Esq. of Kingston, New York. Assistant District Attorney Joan Gudesblatt Lamb, Esq. handled the appeal for the District Attorney’s Office.