PRESS RELEASE
FROM: HOLLEY CARNRIGHT, DISTRICT ATTORNEY
DATE: NOVEMBER 13, 2014
The
Appellate Division, Third Department has today unanimously affirmed the March
8, 2012 conviction of Billy D. Ganoe, Jr. upon his plea of guilty convicting
him of two counts of burglary in the second degree, a class C violent
felony.
Defendant’s
arrest and conviction stems from a string of car thefts and residential
burglaries in the Ulster County area between April and June, 2011. Defendant was subsequently charged with
multiple counts of burglary in the second degree, criminal mischief, grand
larceny in the fourth degree and criminal possession of stolen property and
eventually pled guilty to two counts of burglary in the second degree in
exchange for a concurrent term of 10 years with five years of postrelease
supervision.
Defendant
was subsequently sentenced, as a second felony offender, to the agreed upon
term of imprisonment by County Court Judge Donald A. Williams.
On
appeal, defendant argued that the Judge should have recused himself as a result
of certain remarks he made during the sentence proceedings and that the
negotiated sentence ultimately imposed was unduly harsh and excessive. The Appellate Division, Third Department,
however, rejected both of these claims, noting that defendant had a lengthy
criminal history spanning almost 20 years and had numerous prior felony
convictions.
On
appeal, the defendant is represented by Gail B. Rubenfeld, Esq. of Monticello,
New York. Assistant District Attorney Joan
Gudesblatt Lamb, Esq. handled the appeal for the District Attorney’s Office.
