Opinion
(1631) KA 00-00274
December 21, 2001.
(Appeal from Judgment of Oswego County Court, McCarthy, J. — Sexual Abuse, 1st Degree.)
PRESENT: HAYES, J.P., SCUDDER, BURNS, GORSKI AND LAWTON, JJ.
Judgment unanimously affirmed.
Memorandum:
Defendant appeals from a judgment convicting him upon his plea of guilty of sexual abuse in the first degree (Penal Law § 130.65) and criminal contempt in the first degree (Penal Law § 215.51). County Court did not err in sua sponte correcting the illegal sentence imposed on the count of sexual abuse ( see, People v. Williams, 87 N.Y.2d 1014, rearg denied 89 N.Y.2d 861). The court originally had sentenced defendant to a determinate term of incarceration of five years on that count. Upon recognizing that the sexual abuse statute under which defendant pleaded guilty permitted only an indeterminate sentence ( see, Penal Law § 70.00), the court then resentenced defendant to an indeterminate term of incarceration of 3 to 6 years on that count. Contrary to defendant's contention, the court has inherent power to correct sentencing errors even when defendant is thereby exposed to a longer maximum term ( see, People v. Minaya, 54 N.Y.2d 360, 363-365 , cert denied 455 U.S. 1024), as long as "the two sentences [are] sufficiently comparable that defendant's legitimate expectation of finality was not violated" ( People v. Shanks, 272 A.D.2d 153, 153-154, lv denied 95 N.Y.2d 871).