On February 10, 2004, Police Officer Stella of the Mount Vernon Police Department issued the defendant four simplified traffic informations, all for violating VTL § 1229 (c) (1) (improper seat/seatbelt restraint). The defendant, having previously entered a plea of guilty to all of the charges on February 23, 2004, now makes this motion seeking to withdraw her guilty plea on the charges.

On this motion, the defendant contends that at the time of the plea, she did not understand that her driver's license would be subject to mandatory revocation. She alleges that a court clerk informed her that she could simply pay the tickets without seeing a judge. The defendant asserts that in order to quickly resolve the matter, she paid a fine for each ticket. She now requests that her plea be withdrawn because she did not know the consequences of her actions. Defendant further argues that all of the passengers in the back seat of her vehicle were over the age of four and wearing seatbelts.

Loss of a driver's license is a collateral consequence of a guilty plea, resulting from the action of an agency the Court does not control. Thus, neither the Court nor defense counsel is required to advise the defendant that she will lose her driver's license before a guilty plea is entered (People v Ford, 86 NY2d 397 (1995)). The defendant's alleged lack of awareness that her guilty plea would result in revocation of her license does not affect the voluntariness of the plea or warrant its vacatur. The defendant knew she had an opportunity to see a judge on the above mentioned tickets on the day she appeared at the Court window, yet she voluntarily and knowingly chose not to avail herself of said opportunity. Further, defendant's belated claim of innocence lacks support and merit.

Upon consideration of all the circumstances, this Court finds that the defendant's plea of guilty was knowingly and voluntarily made (People v Harris, 61 NY2d 9 (1983)). The defendant's motion to withdraw her plea is therefore denied.

This constitutes the Decision and Order of this Court.

Dated:October 26, 2004

Mount Vernon, New York

________________________________

HON. ADAM SEIDEN

Associate City Judge of Mount Vernon

To:Corporation Counsel

City of Mount Vernon

City Hall

Mount Vernon, New York 10550

Evan Inlaw, Esq.

Attorney for Defendant

45 South Broadway, Suite 223

Yonkers, New York 10701