The
Appellate Division, Third Department has today unanimously affirmed judgments
of conviction in the following case:
People
v Julian Caggiano
In
September, 2014, the defendant, 17 years old, was convicted upon his plea of
guilty of the crime of criminal possession of a controlled substance in the
third degree as a result of a series of sales of heroin he made to undercover
officers working with the Ulster Regional Gang Enforcement Narcotics Team
(URGENT).
In
exchange for his plea to criminal possession of a controlled substance in the
third degree, defendant was sentenced, in accordance with the plea agreement,
to a State prison term of five years to be followed by five years of post-release
supervision. As part of the negotiated
plea agreement, defendant also waived his right to appeal. Though he requested youthful offender
treatment, County Court denied his application following numerous discussions
on that issue.
On
appeal, defendant challenged County Court’s discretionary decision to deny him
youthful offender status, and argued that the agreed upon term of imprisonment
was unduly harsh and excessive. The
Appellate Division, Third Department, however, rejected both claims finding
that his valid and unchallenged waiver of appeal precluded review of both of
those claims.
On
appeal, the defendant is represented by Lee C. Kindlon, Esq. of Albany, New
York. Assistant District Attorneys Joan
Gudesblatt Lamb, Esq. and Clifford Owens, Esq. handled the appeal for the
District Attorney’s Office.
