Justice Richard Lee Price
A judgment was entered against Miguel Santos convicting him upon his plea of guilty to criminal possession of a controlled substance in the seventh degree, a class A misdemeanor. Subsequently, Santos, a native of the Dominican Republic, became subject to removal from the United States. Santos moved to vacate the conviction claiming counsel failed to advise him that entering a guilty plea would subject him to adverse immigration consequences. The court found the claim was without merit because Santos suffered no prejudice. The court reasoned that counsel had negotiated a favorable non-incarceratory plea agreement, sparing Santos from the exposure of a lengthy prison term had he been convicted after a trial and that an acquittal would by no means have been assured because the prosecution’s case against Santos was strong. The court found even if counsel had advised him to plead guilty without informing him of the potential immigration consequences of doing so, that would not constitute ineffective assistance of counsel. The court also noted Santos was not prejudiced because the removal proceedings were canceled and he was not now facing deportation. The motion to vacate was denied.