| People v Amoroso |
| 2022 NY Slip Op 04063 [206 AD3d 1388] |
| June 23, 2022 |
| Appellate Division, Third Department |
| Published by New York State Law Reporting Bureau pursuant to Judiciary Law § 431. |
| The People of the State of New York,
Respondent, v Alex Robert Amoroso, Appellant. |
Clea Weiss, Ithaca, for appellant.
Megan K. Galligan, District Attorney, Monticello (Lisa M. Bondarenka of counsel), for respondent.
Fisher, J. Appeal from a judgment of the County Court of Sullivan County (Farrell, J.), rendered January 27, 2020, which revoked defendant's probation and imposed a sentence of imprisonment.
Defendant, a risk level three sex offender, pleaded guilty to promoting an obscene sexual
performance by a child and was sentenced to 10 years of probation subject to various terms and
conditions—including, as relevant here, that he refrain from consuming alcohol and
submit to testing to determine his use thereof. A violation of probation petition subsequently was
filed alleging that defendant had consumed alcohol—specifically, that he drove to an
appointment with his probation officer in an intoxicated state, admitted that he would fail the
requested urinalysis test because he had consumed alcohol, left the premises without submitting
to testing, drove home and thereafter returned to the Probation Department, at which time a
breath test confirmed the presence of alcohol in his system. Defendant, who was advised that his
maximum sentencing exposure would be a prison term of 2
Defendant's sole argument upon appeal is that the sentence imposed is "unduly harsh or severe" (CPL 470.15 [6] [b]). We disagree. Defendant was apprised of the relevant sentencing cap, which was less than the maximum period of imprisonment that could be imposed for a class D felony (see Penal Law §§ 70.00 [2] [d]; [3] [b]; 263.10). Although defendant's violation of probation admittedly did not relate to the underlying sex crime, defendant nonetheless has a long history of alcohol-related offenses and, despite preventative services, has had limited success in managing his substance abuse issues. Under these circumstances, we do not find the sentence imposed to be unduly harsh or severe, so we decline defendant's invitation to modify the sentence in the interest of justice.
Egan Jr., J.P., Lynch, Pritzker and Ceresia, JJ., concur. Ordered that the judgment is affirmed.