Appeal from a judgment of the County Court of St. Lawrence County (Richards, J.), rendered May 11, 2015, convicting defendant upon his plea of guilty of the crime of rape in the first degree.
In March 2015, defendant waived indictment and agreed to be prosecuted pursuant to a superior court information charging him with one count of rape in the second degree. The charge stemmed from an incident that occurred in May 2014, at which time defendant engaged in sexual intercourse with a 14-year-old female relative. Pursuant to a negotiated plea agreement, defendant executed a written waiver of the right to appeal and agreed to plead guilty to rape in the second degree in exchange for a sentence of six months in the local jail and 10 years of probation. During the course of the plea colloquy, defendant
During his presentencing interview with the Probation Department, defendant “adamantly denied any sexual contact with the victim” — claiming that he suffered from erectile dysfunction and characterizing the victim as “vindictive.” Upon reviewing defendant’s statements to the Probation Department, which directly contradicted his sworn plea allocution, County Court indicated that it no longer could honor its prior sentencing commitment. Following a bench conference, defendant was advised that he could reallocute to the charged crime under oath, in which case County Court would sentence him to four years in prison followed by eight years of postrelease supervision, or he could move to withdraw his plea, which County Court indicated it was “prepared to let him do.” In conjunction therewith, County Court alerted defendant to the “possibility” that, if he elected to withdraw his plea, the People could re-present the charges and advised defendant as to both the potential charges that the People could seek and his sentencing exposure relative thereto. After being afforded an opportunity to discuss his options with counsel, defendant again pleaded guilty (without reference to his previously executed waiver of the right to appeal) to rape in the second degree and was sentenced to four years in prison followed by eight years of postrelease supervision. Defendant now appeals, contending that County Court’s comments regarding the possibility of additional charges and defendant’s potential sentencing exposure constituted coercion.
Absent an appropriate postallocution motion, defendant’s challenge to the voluntariness of his plea is unpreserved for our review
(see People v Lobaton,
Ordered that the judgment is affirmed.
