Do You Have to Accept a Plea Deal in New York?

| by Max Soni

Last Updated on: 5th October 2025, 10:46 am

New York Plea Deals – Tomorrow at 4 PM Your Offer Expires Forever

The plea cut-off date is tomorrow at 4 PM. After that, the prosecutor withdraws all offers and you go to trial facing the maximum sentence. This isn’t negotiable – NY CPL § 220.60 allows prosecutors to set expiration dates on plea offers, and judges enforce them strictly. Miss tomorrow’s deadline by one minute, and that offer of probation becomes 5-to-15 years after trial conviction. The ADA already calendared this deadline weeks ago. They’re counting on you panicking at 3:45 PM tomorrow, accepting whatever’s on the table because your attorney didn’t explain that plea deadlines are absolute, not suggestions.

Pre-indictment, you have exactly 5-6 days in New York County (shorter in other boroughs) to accept a misdemeanor plea before the grand jury votes. Once indicted on a felony, that misdemeanor offer disappears forever. The Superior Court Information process under CPL § 195.10 lets you waive indictment in exchange for a predetermined plea, but you’re waiving your right to test the prosecution’s evidence at grand jury. Prosecutors love SCI because they don’t risk grand jury dismissal. You think you’re getting a favor – you’re actually giving up constitutional protection.

Borough Prosecution Disparities Determine Everything

Manhattan (Alvin Bragg): Offers probation on most non-violent felonies. Drug treatment for possession. Won’t prosecute marijuana regardless of weight. But post-plea, violate probation and face state prison. The “progressive” prosecutor gives second chances that become trap doors.

Brooklyn (Eric Gonzalez): Programs and alternatives for everything except guns. Young adult court for under-25. Mental health diversion. But immigration consequences ignored – ICE arrests happen during plea allocution in Brooklyn Supreme Court.

Bronx (Darcel Clark): Reasonable offers but overwhelmed courts. Cases age out favorably. Prosecutors handling 200+ cases make mistakes you can exploit. But Bronx judges reject pleas more than any other borough.

Queens (Melinda Katz): By-the-book prosecution. Offers track sentencing guidelines precisely. No creativity, no exceptions. First-time offender with sympathetic facts gets same offer as career criminal.

Staten Island (Michael McMahon): Maximum sentences standard. No probation for felonies. Misdemeanors get jail. The Republican prosecutor campaigned on being “tougher than Manhattan.”

Your arrest location determines whether you get treatment or prison for the same crime.

The Appeal Waiver That Eliminates All Rights

Every New York plea includes appeal waivers. You waive the right to appeal your conviction AND sentence except for:

• Jurisdiction (court had no authority)
• Illegal sentence (exceeds statutory maximum)
• Ineffective assistance (narrow grounds)

But here’s what they don’t explain: “illegal sentence” doesn’t mean unfair or excessive. If the judge sentences you within statutory limits, even if they promised less, you can’t appeal. That “promised” 2-4 years becomes 3-6 years at sentencing? Too bad, you waived appeal rights.

The waiver is permanent, irrevocable, and survives everything. New evidence proving innocence? Waived. Prosecutor hid Brady material? Waived. Judge was literally sleeping during plea? Unless you can prove ineffective assistance of counsel (nearly impossible standard), waived.

Immigration Detention During Plea Allocution

ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations sits in NYC criminal courtrooms with lists of non-citizens. The moment you plead guilty, before sentencing, they can arrest you in the courtroom. Your plea triggers immigration detention while criminal case continues. You’re trying to complete programs to avoid prison while detained at Bergen County Jail.

The plea colloquy includes Padilla warnings about immigration consequences, but judges rush through them: “This may have immigration consequences, consult an attorney.” That’s it. The judge fulfilled their obligation. The reality – immediate detention and removal proceedings for any drug offense, crime involving moral turpitude, or aggravated felony – goes unexplained.

Mandatory Minimums That Destroy Plea Options

New York’s predicate felony rules eliminate plea flexibility:

• One prior felony in 10 years = mandatory state prison
• Two priors = persistent felony offender (minimum 15-to-life)
• Violent predicate = enhanced minimums

Drug weight minimums under PL Article 220:

• 8 oz cocaine = A-I felony (8-20 years minimum)
• 4 oz = A-II felony (3-8 years minimum)
• No plea below these minimums regardless of circumstances

Weapon enhancements under PL § 265:

• Loaded firearm = 3.5 years minimum
• No probation possible
• No alternatives regardless of mitigation

Your attorney saying “we’ll work something out” while you have predicates or mandatory charges is lying or incompetent.

Bail Reform’s Plea Coercion Paradox

Pre-2020 bail reform: Sit on Rikers or take plea for time served Post-2020: Released pre-trial but face mandatory jail post-plea

The paradox: You’re free for months awaiting trial, building life stability, working, supporting family. Then plea requires immediate incarceration. The same charge that didn’t warrant pre-trial detention requires mandatory jail post-conviction. Defendants reject reasonable pleas because they can’t abandon jobs and families they’ve maintained while released.

Prosecutors adapted by overcharging bail-eligible offenses. That assault becomes strangulation (bail eligible). That shoplifting becomes robbery (bail eligible). Now you’re on Rikers despite bail reform, pressured to plead for release.

The SCI Trap and Grand Jury Waiver

Superior Court Information under CPL § 195.10 seems like a gift – skip grand jury, get predetermined plea. Reality: You’re waiving constitutional protection. Grand juries dismiss 5-7% of cases in NYC. Weak cases get voted down. By waiving indictment, you’re eliminating the chance prosecutors’ case collapses at grand jury.

SCI requires written waiver after consultation with counsel. But public defenders handling 100+ cases push SCI to clear dockets. They don’t explain you’re trading constitutional rights for plea certainty. The grand jury that might have refused to indict never hears your case.

Judge’s Power to Reject After Guilty Plea

Under CPL § 220.30, judges can reject pleas until sentence is imposed. You allocute, admit guilt, waive trial rights, then the judge decides they don’t like the deal. Now you’ve confessed but face trial anyway. Your admission during allocution is admissible evidence.

Certain judges reject pleas routinely:

• Judge McDonnell (Manhattan): Rejects 20% of negotiated pleas
• Judge Carro (Bronx): Won’t accept probation for drug sales
• Judge Wong (Queens): Rejects pleas with immigration consequences

Your guilty plea becomes your confession at trial. The judge gets your admission then forces trial anyway.

Real Numbers on Plea Outcomes

NYS Division of Criminal Justice statistics:

• 95% of felony convictions via plea
• 3% go to trial and win
• 2% go to trial and lose
• Average sentence post-trial: 260% longer than plea offer

By borough (2024 data):

• Manhattan: 78% get probation or less
• Brooklyn: 71% get alternatives to incarceration
• Bronx: 69% get county jail or less
• Queens: 52% get state prison
• Staten Island: 67% get state prison

By defendant status:

• Citizens: 61% avoid prison
• Green card holders: 71% detained by ICE regardless
• Undocumented: 89% transferred to ICE custody
• Predicate felons: 94% get state prison

Call Now – Tomorrow’s Deadline Can’t Be Extended

212-300-5196

The plea cut-off is tomorrow at 4 PM. Courts don’t extend these deadlines. Prosecutors won’t negotiate after cut-off. The judge will hold you to the deadline even if your attorney is late. That offer disappears tomorrow forever.

If you have predicates, mandatory minimums apply regardless of mitigation. If you’re non-citizen, ICE is checking court calendars tonight for tomorrow’s pleas. If you’re in Manhattan, you might get probation. If you’re in Staten Island, you’re getting jail.

The SCI waiver must be filed by noon tomorrow for afternoon plea. The immigration safe harbor provisions expire with the plea offer. Your bail status changes from released to remanded at plea.