COUNTY COURT SHOULD NOT HAVE ORDERED RESTITUTION, WHICH WAS NOT MENTIONED IN DEFENDANT’S COOPERATION AGREEMENT, WITHOUT FIRST GIVING DEFENDANT THE OPPORTUNITY TO WITHDRAW HIS GUILTY PLEA (THIRD DEPT).

The Third Department, reversing County Court, determined the judge should not have made restitution part of defendant’s sentence without giving the defendant the opportunity to withdraw his guilty plea or accept the enhanced sentence:

​”[A] sentencing court may not impose a more severe sentence than one bargained for without providing the defendant the opportunity to withdraw his or her plea” … . The People concede that the payment of restitution was not part of the cooperation/plea agreement and that defendant should have been given the opportunity to either withdraw his plea or accept the enhanced sentence of restitution. Accordingly, we must remit the matter to County Court to either impose the agreed-upon sentence or give defendant the option of withdrawing his plea before imposing the restitution … . People v Nolasco-Gutierrez, 2024 NY Slip Op 05606, Third Dept 11-14-24

Practice Point: Here defendant pled guilty in accordance with a cooperation agreement which did not include restitution as part of the sentence. Imposing restitution without giving the defendant the opportunity to withdraw his plea required vacation of the restitution order.​