Opinion
May 27, 1988
Appeal from the Onondaga County Court, Burke, J.
Present — Dillon, P.J., Boomer, Pine, Balio and Lawton, JJ.
Judgment unanimously modified on the law by vacating the sentence imposed and as modified affirmed and defendant remanded to Onondaga County Court for further proceedings, in accordance with the following memorandum: Defendant pleaded guilty to one count of robbery in the first degree, a class B felony and in accordance with his plea bargain, was sentenced to an agreed-upon term of imprisonment having a minimum of 4 and maximum of 8 years. Since defendant was sentenced as a second felony offender, the mandatory minimum indeterminate term was 4 1/2 to 9 years (Penal Law § 70.06, [4]), and defendant's sentence was illegal. Although this issue was not raised before the trial court or on appeal, we cannot allow an invalid sentence to stand (see, People v Peale, 122 A.D.2d 353; People v Grant, 92 A.D.2d 985). Accordingly, we modify the judgment by vacating the sentence (CPL 470.15 [c]) and remand defendant to Onondaga County Court so that he may withdraw his guilty plea and stand trial or be resentenced in compliance with the statute.
Defendant's claim that the court erred by failing to hold a hearing on his application to withdraw his plea lacks merit. Conclusory allegations of innocence and coercion are insufficient to warrant a hearing where the record discloses that defendant has freely and fully admitted the essential facts constituting the crime (see, People v Kafka, 128 A.D.2d 895, lv denied 69 N.Y.2d 951; People v Colon, 114 A.D.2d 967, lv denied 67 N.Y.2d 650).