NOT FOR PUBLICATION WITHOUT THE APPROVAL OF THE APPELLATE DIVISION This opinion shall not "constitute precedent or be binding upon any court." Although it is posted on the internet, this opinion is binding only on the parties in the case and its use in other cases is limited. R. 1:36-3. SUPERIOR COURT OF NEW JERSEY APPELLATE DIVISION DOCKET NO. A-2065-18T2 STATE OF NEW JERSEY, Plaintiff-Respondent, v. LUIS A. DEJESUS, a/k/a LUIS ALBERTO DEJESUS, Defendant-Appellant. ________________________ Submitted March 9, 2020 – Decided March 20, 2020 Before Judges Sabatino and Geiger. On appeal from the Superior Court of New Jersey, Law Division, Union County, Indictment No. 15-03-0236. Joseph E. Krakora, Public Defender, attorney for appellant (Louis H. Miron, Designated Counsel, on the brief). Lindsay V. Ruotolo, Acting Union County Prosecutor, attorney for respondent (Milton Samuel Leibowitz, Special Deputy Attorney General/Acting Assistant Prosecutor, of counsel and on the brief). PER CURIAM Defendant Luis DeJesus appeals from an April 27, 2018 Law Division order denying his petition for post-conviction relief (PCR) without an evidentiary hearing. We affirm. Defendant is not a U.S. citizen. He was born in the Dominican Republic and was residing in the United States as a lawful permanent resident. In 2015, a Union County Grand Jury returned a fourteen-count indictment charging defendant and three others with various controlled dangerous substance (CDS) offenses occurring on several dates in two counties. Defendant was charged with three first-degree offenses, three second-degree offenses, four third-degree offenses. On November 29, 2016, defendant pleaded guilty to possession of CDS with intent to distribute it (count twelve) in exchange for a sentencing recommendation of a five-year prison term subject to a twenty-four-month period of parole ineligibility and dismissal of all other charges. Defendant provided a factual basis for his plea. He admitted that on October 22, 2014, he and co-defendants, Brayan Emiliano and Anderson Veloz, possessed cocaine with the intent to distribute it in both Union and Middlesex Counties. Defendant also admitted that he knew it was illegal to possess cocaine with the intent to A-2065-18T2 2 distribute it. Judge Regina Caulfield accepted the guilty plea after conducting a thorough plea hearing. On January 20, 2017, defendant was sentenced in accordance with the plea agreement to a five-year term with a twenty-four-month period of parole ineligibility and appropriate fines and assessments. Defendant did not move to withdraw his guilty plea or file a direct appeal from his conviction or sentence. He was subsequently deported to the Dominican Republic. Defendant filed a timely pro se petition for PCR in which he alleged he was improperly convicted of distribution of cocaine rather than possession with intent to distribute cocaine. He also alleged the cocaine did not belong to him ; the evidence implicated his co-defendants; he had no knowledge of CDS being in the car he was driving; and he only pleaded guilty because he did not think the plea would have such severe repercussions towards his immigration charges. Counsel was appointed to represent defendant and filed an amended petition. ...
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