PEOPLE v. DE ALVAREZ (2009)

Appeal by the defendant from a judgment of the County Court, Suffolk County (J. Doyle, J.), rendered April 24, 2007, convicting her of criminal sale of a controlled substance in the first degree, upon her plea of guilty, and imposing sentence.

ORDERED that the judgment is affirmed.

The defendant, who pleaded guilty to selling one half of a kilogram of cocaine in Queens County, and acknowledged in her plea allocution that the cocaine was intended for sale in Suffolk County, now contends on appeal that there was an inadequate basis to place venue of this matter in Suffolk County, and that the indictment therefore should have been dismissed.

The defendant, by her plea of guilty, waived her right to challenge the sufficiency of the evidence before the grand jury with regard to the geographical jurisdiction of Suffolk County to prosecute the charged offense (see People v. Gesualdi, 247 A.D.2d 629, 668 N.Y.S.2d 487;  People v. Torres, 194 A.D.2d 815, 599 N.Y.S.2d 1014;  People v. Ianniello, 156 A.D.2d 469, 548 N.Y.S.2d 755).

Moreover, because the sentence actually imposed was the sentence originally promised to the defendant in the plea agreement, she has no basis to now complain that the sentence was excessive (see People v. Maglione, 18 A.D.3d 670, 794 N.Y.S.2d 908;  People v. Gayle, 224 A.D.2d 710, 638 N.Y.S.2d 733;  People v. White, 215 A.D.2d 791, 627 N.Y.S.2d 957;  People v. Kazepis, 101 A.D.2d 816, 475 N.Y.S.2d 351).