Opinion
13344, 3572/08.
10-30-2014
The PEOPLE of the State of New York, Respondent, v. Bello SHEHU, Defendant–Appellant.
Steven Banks, The Legal Aid Society, New York (Michael McLaughlin of counsel), for appellant. Robert T. Johnson, District Attorney, Bronx (Melanie A. Sarver of counsel), for respondent.
Steven Banks, The Legal Aid Society, New York (Michael McLaughlin of counsel), for appellant.
Robert T. Johnson, District Attorney, Bronx (Melanie A. Sarver of counsel), for respondent.
MAZZARELLI, J.P., ACOSTA, SAXE, RICHTER, CLARK, JJ.
Opinion
Judgment, Supreme Court, Bronx County (George Villegas, J.), rendered March 22, 2011, convicting defendant, upon his plea of guilty, of grand larceny in the third degree, and sentencing him to a term of one to three years, with restitution in the amount of $26,000, unanimously affirmed.
Defendant's claim that his counsel rendered ineffective assistance by failing to seek a sentence that allegedly might have avoided defendant's deportation is unreviewable on direct appeal because it involves matters not reflected in, or fully explained by, the record (see People v. Rivera, 71 N.Y.2d 705, 709, 530 N.Y.S.2d 52, 525 N.E.2d 698 [1988] ; People v. Love, 57 N.Y.2d 998, 457 N.Y.S.2d 238, 443 N.E.2d 486 [1982] ). Accordingly, since defendant has not made a CPL 440.10 motion, the merits of the ineffectiveness claim may not be addressed on appeal. In the alternative, to the extent the existing record permits review, we find that defendant received effective assistance under the state and federal standards (see People v. Benevento, 91 N.Y.2d 708, 713–714, 674 N.Y.S.2d 629, 697 N.E.2d 584 [1998] ; Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668, 104 S.Ct. 2052, 80 L.Ed.2d 674 [1984] ). The record establishes that both the court and counsel advised defendant of the deportation consequences of the plea, and defendant's assertion that counsel could have obtained a disposition that might have avoided those consequences is unsupported.
We perceive no basis for reducing the sentence.