PRESS RELEASE
TO: ALL NEWS MEDIA
FROM: HOLLEY CARNRIGHT, DISTRICT ATTORNEY
DATE: JULY 11, 2013
The
Appellate Division, Third Department has today affirmed judgments of
convictions in the following cases.
People
v Alfredo Pimental
Alfredo
Pimental was convicted on January 25, 2011 of four counts of course of sexual
conduct against a child in the first degree, a class B violent felony, for
subjecting his live-in girlfriend’s twin daughters, both under the age of 11,
to repeated acts of sexual abuse. In the
midst of trial after numerous witnesses had testified for the prosecution,
including both victims and their mother, defendant entered a guilty plea to each
count in the indictment.
Subsequently,
Defendant was sentenced to an aggregate term of 44 years in prison by County
Court Judge Donald A. Williams.
On
appeal, defendant claimed that he was deprived of the effective assistance of counsel
and that the 44 year sentence imposed by County Court was unduly harsh and
excessive. The Appellate Division, Third Department, however, did not agree.
Given
the nature of the crime, defendant’s exploitation of the position of trust he
held over the victims , his failure to accept responsibility or express remorse
for his heinous acts and the fact that County Court could have imposed an
aggregate sentence of 50 years, the Appellate Division determined both that the
sentence was neither unduly harsh nor excessive.
On
appeal, the defendant is represented by Neil D. Futerfas, Esq. of White
Plains. Assistant District Attorney Joan
Gudesblatt Lamb, Esq. handled the appeal for the District Attorney’s Office.
People
v Efrain Feliciano
Efrain
Feliciano was convicted upon a plea of guilty of the crime of criminal sale of
a controlled substance in the third degree, a class B felony, on October 14,
2011. Feliciano’s conviction stems from
an incident on March 5, 2010 during which he and his co-defendant, Maria
Ramirez, made two separate sales of crack cocaine to a confidential informant
in the presence of an undercover officer in his room at the Kingston Hospital,
where he was recuperating from surgery.
Following
his conviction, defendant, a second felony drug offender with a prior violent
felony conviction, was sentenced by Ulster County Court Judge Donald Williams
to a determinate term of eight years to be followed by three years postrelease
supervision.
On
appeal, defendant attacked his sentence on the ground it was illegal,
unauthorized and unduly harsh and excessive.
He further claimed that his plea
had been coerced by the Court and that he was deprived of meaningful
representation. However, following its
review of defendant’s claims, the Appellate Division, Third Department unanimously
found each of defendant’s claims unwarranted.
Defendant
is represented by Terry D. Horner of Poughkeepsie. Assistant District Attorney Joan Gudesblatt
Lamb, Esq. handled the appeal for the District Attorney’s Office.
People
v Reza Sanat
Reza
Sanat was convicted in May, 2011 of burglary in the third degree, a class D felony. Defendant’s conviction stems from an incident
which occurred in the early morning hours of July 26, 2010. At that time, defendant, with the aid of a
co-defendant, stole three automobiles after breaking into Perry’s Motors II on Broadway
in the City of Kingston and appropriating keys to those vehicles.
Defendant
eventually entered a plea to burglary in the third degree and was sentenced by
Ulster County Court Judge Donald A. Williams to an indeterminate term of
imprisonment with a minimum of two and one-third years and a maximum of seven
years.
On
appeal to the Appellate Division, Third Department, defendant challenged the
voluntariness and factual sufficiency of his plea allocution, but his claims
were found to be unpreserved for appellate review.
On
appeal, defendant is represented by Louis N. Altman, Esq. of Hurley. Assistant District Attorney Joan Gudesblatt
Lamb, Esq. handled the appeal for the District Attorney’s Office.
