PRESS RELEASE
FROM: DISTRICT ATTORNEY HOLLEY CARNRIGHT
DATE: JUNE 30, 2016
The
Appellate Division, Third Department has today unanimously affirmed the October
3, 2014 conviction of German A. Lobaton for the crime of burglary in the second
degree, a class C violent felony.
Over
the course of a four month period in 2013, the defendant, an Emergency Medical
Technician and member of the Ellenville First Aid and Rescue Squad, responded
to medical emergencies at three separate homes in Ellenville in the Town of
Wawarsing. Shortly thereafter, and while
the homes in question were unoccupied, because the occupants had been taken to
the hospital, the defendant returned to these premises, reentered them and
stole numerous items of personal property, consisting mostly of electronic
devices, jewelry, handguns and rifles.
When police executed a search warrant at the defendant’s home, most of
the stolen property was found.
The
defendant pled guilty to burglary in the second degree in full satisfaction of
a 12 count indictment in the Ulster County Court and at that time, waived the
right to appeal his conviction and sentence.
On October 3, 2014, the defendant was sentenced by County Court Judge
Donald A. Williams to the agreed upon term of imprisonment of 13 years in State
prison followed by five years of postrelease supervision.
On
appeal to the Appellate Division, Third Department, the defendant argued that
his plea was not knowing, intelligent and voluntary and that his sentence was
unduly harsh and excessive. The
reviewing court, however, found both claims unpreserved for appellate review.
On
appeal, the defendant is represented by Michael C. Ross, Esq. of Bloomingburg,
New York. Assistant District Attorney Joan
Gudesblatt Lamb, Esq. handled the appeal for the District Attorney’s Office.
