The
Appellate Division, Third Department has today unanimously affirmed the March,
2015 conviction of Eric Coutant upon his plea of guilty convicting him of the
crime of criminal sale of a controlled substance in the third degree, a class B
felony.
Defendant’s
conviction stems from a series of three heroin sales he made to an undercover
officer in the Town of Wawarsing in December, 2013. Defendant was arrested two months later and
charged with three counts of criminal sale of a controlled substance in the
third degree. Defendant eventually pled
guilty in the Ulster County Court (Williams, J.) to criminal sale of a
controlled substance in the third degree and the plea agreement also included a
waiver of the right to appeal.
Defendant, a prior felony offender, was subsequently sentenced to five
years in State prison to be followed by three years of postrelease supervision.
On
appeal, the defendant challenged the validity of his waiver of appeal and his
sentence, arguing it was unduly harsh and excessive. The Appellate Division, Third Department,
however, found that defendant had knowingly, voluntarily and intelligently
waived his right to appeal and that his valid waiver of appeal precluded this
challenge.
On
appeal, the defendant is represented by Theodore J. Stein, Esq. of Woodstock,
New York. Assistant District Attorney Joan
Gudesblatt Lamb, Esq. handled the appeal for the District Attorney’s Office.
