J-S30033-22 NON-PRECEDENTIAL DECISION - SEE SUPERIOR COURT I.O.P. 65.37 COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA : IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF : PENNSYLVANIA : v. : : : CARTER SYLVESTER : : Appellant : No. 2547 EDA 2021 Appeal from the Judgment of Sentence Entered November 9, 2021 In the Court of Common Pleas of Montgomery County Criminal Division at No(s): CP-46-CR-0005370-2020 BEFORE: STABILE, J., McCAFFERY, J., and PELLEGRINI, J.* MEMORANDUM BY PELLEGRINI, J.: FILED SEPTEMBER 08, 2022 Carter Sylvester (Sylvester) contends in this direct appeal that he entered a guilty plea due to the ineffective assistance of trial counsel and that the Court of Common Pleas of Montgomery County (trial court) erred in denying his post-sentence motion to withdraw the plea because he was innocent of the charges. Appellate counsel for Sylvester has petitioned to withdraw from the case, asserting that the appeal is frivolous. We grant counsel’s petition to withdraw and affirm the judgment of sentence. I. This case arose from an incident in which a police officer encountered a man walking toward incoming traffic on a highway turnpike. According to the ____________________________________________ * Retired Senior Judge assigned to the Superior Court. J-S30033-22 officer, this man gave the name, “Armani Osuji,” at which point the officer patted him down for weapons, finding a handgun on his person. The officer found no concealed weapon carry permits under the given name, and after searching the man’s bag, the officer found “court paperwork” concerning the recent arrest of “Carter Sylvester” in New York City for burglary. Authorities in New York City provided the officer with a photograph of the person referenced in the court paperwork and the image matched the face of the person who the officer had encountered on the highway (Sylvester). Sylvester was arrested and charged on October 10, 2020, with receiving a stolen firearm (18 Pa.C.S. § 3925(a)); carrying a firearm without a license (18 Pa.C.S. § 6106(a)(2)); false identification to law enforcement (18 Pa.C.S. § 4914); possession of an instrument of crime (18 Pa.C.S. § 907(b)); and pedestrian walking along or on highway (75 Pa.C.S. § 3544(c)). On November 9, 2021, with the aid of counsel, Sylvester negotiated an agreement in which the Commonwealth would drop the two latter charges in exchange for Sylvester’s guilty plea as to the remaining three counts. The Commonwealth agreed to request an aggregate sentence of two years of probation and the trial court then sentenced Sylvester accordingly.1 ____________________________________________ 1Sylvester had been sentenced to a minimum period equivalent to time served as to these counts, with a maximum prison term of 23 months. However, upon entering his guilty plea, Sylvester was immediately granted parole, effective from the date he initially went into custody on the subject charges, October 10, 2020. The maximum sentence ends on September 10, 2022. -2- J-S30033-22 Just prior to entering the plea and being sentenced, Sylvester received written and verbal plea colloquies. At the plea hearing, Sylvester had testified that his counsel had reviewed the entire plea form with him and …
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