Willie McGruder pled guilty to armed robbery and possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime. Following the dismissal of his motions to withdraw his guilty plea and to modify his sentence, McGruder appeals, acting pro se. For the following reasons, we affirm. 1. The trial court dismissed McGruder’s pro se motions to withdraw his guilty plea and to modify his sentence on the ground that the motions were filed outside of the term in which his guilty plea and sentence were entered. To the extent McGruder challenges the dismissal of these motions, we find no error. McGruder entered his guilty plea on February 2, 2001, during the January term of the Richmond County Superior Court. OCGA § 15-6-3 5 C. He filed his motions on June 26, 2009 and January 22, 2010, many years after the January 2001 term of court expired. The superior court’s jurisdiction to entertain a motion to withdraw a guilty plea ends after the term of court in which the judgment of conviction was rendered. And it is well established that after the expiration of the term and of the time for filing an appeal from the conviction, the only remedy available to the defendant for withdrawing a plea is through habeas corpus proceedings. Citations and footnotes omitted. LaFette v. State , 285 Ga. App. 516 1 646 SE2d 725 2007. “Similarly, a trial court is without jurisdiction to modify a sentence after the expiration of the term of court during which the sentence was entered.” Citations, punctuation and footnote omitted. Fox v. State , 241 Ga. App. 399 527 SE2d 216 1999. The trial court therefore did not err in dismissing McGruder’s motions to withdraw his guilty plea and to modify his sentence.1 Id.; LaFette , supra.
2. McGruder argues that his plea must be set aside because the trial court failed to advise him of the waiver of his privilege against self-incrimination. He is in essence seeking to withdraw the plea on the ground that it was not knowing and voluntary. But as explained in Division 1, the trial court is without jurisdiction to allow the withdrawal of a guilty plea after the expiration of the term of court in which the defendant was sentenced. Orr v. State , 276 Ga. 91, 93 2 574 SE2d 444 2003. Therefore, the only means now available to McGruder for challenging his guilty plea is through a petition for writ of habeas corpus. See id.
