Opinion
March 1, 1993
Appeal from the Supreme Court, Queens County (Cooperman, J.).
Ordered that the order is affirmed.
The defendant, who is a legal resident alien, and two others were indicted for the crimes of robbery in the first degree, grand larceny in the fourth degree, and criminal possession of a weapon in the fourth degree. The defendant subsequently pleaded guilty to grand larceny in the fourth degree in full satisfaction of the indictment and in return for a promised sentence of one year imprisonment. When the defendant was released from prison after having served nearly eight months of his sentence, the Immigration and Naturalization Service commenced deportation proceedings against him. The defendant thereafter brought a motion under CPL 440.10 to vacate the judgment of conviction on the ground of ineffective assistance of counsel.
Contrary to the defendant's arguments, we find that the court properly denied his CPL 440.10 motion. The evidence, the law, and the circumstances of this case, when viewed in their totality as of the time of the representation, indicate that defense counsel provided meaningful representation (see, People v. Satterfield, 66 N.Y.2d 796; People v. Baldi, 54 N.Y.2d 137). As has often been observed, "when a defendant receives an advantageous plea and the record does not cast doubt on the apparent effectiveness of counsel, defendant is deemed to have been furnished meaningful representation" (People v. Mayes, 133 A.D.2d 905, 906; see also, People v. Lynch, 156 A.D.2d 884; People v. Moore, 155 A.D.2d 696).
Moreover, the defendant's contention that he was denied the effective assistance of counsel because his attorney failed to advise him that deportation was a possible consequence of conviction is without merit (see, People v. Avila, 177 A.D.2d 426; People v. Dor, 132 Misc.2d 568). This Court has recently stated that "counsel is not required to warn a defendant of the potential immigration consequences of a guilty plea" (People v Kearney, 186 A.D.2d 270; see also, United States v. Yearwood, 863 F.2d 6; United States v. Del Rosario, 902 F.2d 55, cert denied 498 U.S. 942; United States v. Nino, 878 F.2d 101). Nor does the failure of counsel to request a judicial recommendation against deportation support a claim of ineffective assistance of counsel in this case (see, People v. Cuello, 188 A.D.2d 428; People v. Gabot, 176 A.D.2d 894). Bracken, J.P., Balletta, O'Brien and Ritter, JJ., concur.