Forgery plea overturned
A forgery plea entered nearly a year ago by a Greene County man has been overturned by the state Superior Court. The high court ruled that the case must go back to Greene County Court for reconsideration because prosecutors incorrectly graded the forgery charge at the time Edward Lenhoff III entered his guilty plea.
In addition to forgery, Lenhoff was charged with unsworn falsification for attempting to buy a gun at True Value Hardware Store in Dry Tavern. Lenhoff reportedly went into the store twice to try to buy a gun.
The first time, state police allege he presented fake identification to the clerk that used the name “Lee James Wright.” The manager of the store refused to sell the gun to Lenhoff because the driver’s license he presented did not indicate that he was 21-years-old, which is the legal age to purchase a firearm.
When Lenhoff went to the store again later that day, using his real identification, the manager called police.
During the first attempt to get a gun under the name of Wright, Lenhoff reportedly filled out an application, and signed “Lee James Wright.”
A trooper called to the store recognized Lenhoff and he was subsequently charged.
On April 10, 2001, Lenhoff pleaded guilty to forgery in exchange for nine to 23 1/2 months in jail, with a concurrent probationary term of the same duration.
At that time, the forgery charge was listed as a second-degree felony, punishable by up to 10 years in prison. Although Lenhoff indicated he understood the second degree grading, he later filed an appeal, claming that the forgery charge should have been a first-degree misdemeanor, making it a lesser charge.
A Greene County judge did not agree that the charge should have been a misdemeanor, but did agree that Lenhoff’s forgery charge should have been a third-degree felony, punishable by up to seven years in jail.
While the Superior Court did not agree that Lenhoff’s forgery charge should have been a misdemeanor, the three-judge panel did feel that the plea should be remanded because it was incorrectly graded as a second-degree felony.
Because Lenhoff negotiated a plea based on the fear that he could get a maximum of 10 years in jail, instead of seven, the high court ruled that he should be able to renegotiate the plea.
“The plea was fatally flawed from the start … by the defendant’s desire to avoid a sentence that the court did not have the power to impose,” reads the opinion. “Hence, we agree with (Lenhoff’s) position that plea negotiations were tainted at the outset by misinformation about sentences. Therefore, it is clear that (Lenhoff) should be permitted to withdraw his guilty plea.”
The case will be sent back to Greene County Court. It was unclear if Lenhoff has been in jail serving this sentence while his plea was being processed. If Lenhoff were in prison, he would have likely already served nearly half of his sentence.