People v Cruz
2026 NY Slip Op 02282
April 15, 2026
Appellate Division, Second Department
Published by New York State Law Reporting Bureau pursuant to Judiciary Law § 431.
This decision is uncorrected and subject to revision before publication in the Official Reports.
The People of the State of New York, respondent,
v
Tommy Cruz, appellant.
Supreme Court of the State of New York, Appellate Division, Second Judicial Department
Decided on April 15, 2026
2023-01423, (Ind. No. 72142/21)
Colleen D. Duffy, J.P.
Paul Wooten
Phillip Hom
Elena Goldberg Velazquez, JJ.
Patricia Pazner, New York, NY (Steven Kuza of counsel), for appellant.
Eric Gonzalez, District Attorney, Brooklyn, NY (Leonard Joblove and Jean M. Joyce of counsel), for respondent.
DECISION & ORDER
Appeal by the defendant from a judgment of the Supreme Court, Kings County (Donald Leo, J.), rendered January 17, 2023, 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 is affirmed.
The period of postrelease supervision imposed as part of the sentence was not excessive (see People v Suitte, 90 AD2d 80).
"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 Cabrera, 222 AD3d 878, 879). In light of the defendant's age at the time of the crime and his indigency, 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 Odesanya, 225 AD3d 631, 632).
DUFFY, J.P., WOOTEN, HOM and GOLDBERG VELAZQUEZ, JJ., concur.
ENTER:
Darrell M. Joseph
Clerk of the Court