Case ID: ad2d_233/html/0626-01.html
Source: Caselaw Access Project
Author: {"author": "", "license": "Public Domain", "url": "https://static.case.law/"}
Date Created: 2024-08-24T03:29:51.129683

The People of the State of New York, Respondent, v Makellia C. Etheridge, Appellant.
    [650 NYS2d 320]
   Appeal from a judgment of the County Court of Broome County (Mathews, J.), rendered August 7, 1995, convicting defendant upon his plea of guilty of the crime of criminal possession of a controlled substance in the second degree.

Defendant was charged with the crimes of criminal possession of a controlled substance in the first and third degrees, having been arrested while in possession of 694 vials and nine plastic bags of cocaine. Pursuant to a plea bargain agreement, defendant pleaded guilty to the crime of criminal possession of a controlled substance in the second degree in exchange for an agreed-upon prison sentence of five years to life.

Defendant appeals, contending that this sentence is harsh and excessive given his previously clean criminal record. Our review, however, reveals that defendant admitted to both possession of the drugs and knowledge of their weight. Further, his sentence was imposed pursuant to the terms of a plea bargain agreement and is within the statutory guidelines. The sentence does not constitute an abuse of County Court’s discretion and it will not, accordingly, be disturbed (see, People v Hunter, 217 AD2d 723, lv denied 86 NY2d 843).

Cardona, P. J., White, Casey, Peters and Spain, JJ., concur. Ordered that the judgment is affirmed.