PEOPLE v. MONTGOMERY (2025)

Judgment, Supreme Court, New York County (Michele S. Rodney, J.), rendered April 26, 2024, convicting defendant, upon his plea of guilty, of attempted criminal possession of a controlled substance in the third degree, and sentencing him, as a second felony drug offender, to a jail term of three months, followed by a three-year term of probation, unanimously affirmed.

Defendant's challenge to the legality of his probation requiring him to “[a]void injurious or vicious habits;  refrain from frequenting unlawful or disreputable places;  and ․ not consort with disreputable people” under Penal Law § 65.10[1], [2], does not require preservation (see People v. Alvarez, 233 A.D.3d 619, 620, 224 N.Y.S.3d 62 [1st Dept. 2024], lv denied 43 N.Y.3d 961, 232 N.Y.S.3d 442, 258 N.E.3d 1215 [2025]).  Nonetheless, we reject this challenge on the merits as this condition was reasonably related to defendant's rehabilitation and necessary to ensure that he will lead a law-abiding life, given his admitted use of drugs and his repeated sales of illegal drugs.

Defendant's constitutional challenges to this condition as vague and overbroad are unpreserved (see People v. Cabrera, 41 N.Y.3d 35, 42–51, 207 N.Y.S.3d 18, 230 N.E.3d 1082 [2023];  People v. Lowndes, 239 A.D.3d 574, 575, 235 N.Y.S.3d 43 [1st Dept. 2025]), and we decline to review his challenges in the interest of justice.  As an alternative holding, we find them to be unavailing.

We perceive no basis for reducing the sentence.