Appeal by defendant from a judgment of the Justice Court, Town of Pleasant Valley, Dutchess County (T. Reed, J.), rendered May 28, 2003, convicting him, upon his plea of guilty, of attempted forgery of a vehicle identification number (Penal Law

§§ 110.00, 170.65) and imposing sentence.

Judgment of conviction unanimously affirmed.

"Absent a showing that the defendant's plea was baseless, the Judge to whom the motion is addressed must be entitled to rely on the record to ascertain whether any promises, representations, implications and the like were made to the defendant . . ."
(People v Frederick, 45 NY2d 520, 525 [1978] [citations omitted]). The record on appeal does not establish that defendant pled guilty upon the promise by the People to release his mother's vehicle so that he could register same. Therefore, the court's denial of defendant's motion to withdraw his guilty plea was a provident exercise of its discretion (see CPL 220.60 [3]; People v Ramos, 63 NY2d 640 [1984]).

Defendant further asserts that he should have been permitted to withdraw his guilty plea on the additional ground that he received ineffective assistance of counsel. "In the context of a guilty plea, a defendant has been afforded meaningful representation when he or she receives an advantageous plea and nothing in the record casts doubt on the apparent effectiveness of counsel . . ." (People v Ford, 86 NY2d 397, 404 [1995]). A review of the record demonstrates that the instant defendant received meaningful representation. [*2]

Defendant's remaining contentions lack merit or do not warrant reversal.
Decision Date: October 14, 2004