People v Waters
2026 NY Slip Op 02138 [248 AD3d 947]
April 8, 2026
Appellate Division, Second Department
Published by New York State Law Reporting Bureau pursuant to Judiciary Law § 431.
As corrected through Wednesday, June 10, 2026
The People of the State of New York, Respondent,
v
Kareem Waters, Appellant.
April 8, 2026
HEADNOTES
Crimes — Sentence — Surcharge and Fees
APPEARANCES OF COUNSEL
Patricia Pazner, New York, NY (Christiana Johnson of counsel), for appellant.
Eric Gonzalez, District Attorney, Brooklyn, NY (Leonard Joblove and Daniel Berman of counsel), for respondent.
Appeal by the defendant from a judgment of the Supreme Court, Kings County (Danny K. Chun, J.), rendered January 17, 2024, convicting him of attempted criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree, upon his plea of guilty, and imposing sentence.
Ordered that the judgment is modified, on the law and as a matter of discretion in the interest of justice, by vacating the imposition of a mandatory surcharge and fees; as so modified, the judgment, as amended, is affirmed.
"Criminal Procedure Law § 420.35 (2-a) permits the waiver of surcharges and fees for individuals, like the defendant, who were less than 21 years old at the time of the subject crime" (People v Dillon H., 229 AD3d 722, 723 [2024] [internal quotation marks omitted]). Pursuant to the exercise of our interest of justice jurisdiction, and as consented to by the People, we modify the judgment, by vacating the mandatory surcharge and fees imposed upon the defendant at sentencing (see CPL 420.35[2-a] [c]; People v Harris, 247 AD3d 790 [2026]; People v Dillon H., 229 AD3d at 723). Barros, J.P., Chambers, Taylor and Goldberg Velazquez, JJ., concur.