DECISION AND ORDER F.S. (“Petitioner”) stands convicted, under indictment number 14254/1990, of Offering a False Instrument for Filing in the First Degree (PL §170.35), a class E Felony, and was sentenced to time served. He also stands convicted, under SCI 06961-2003, of Falsify, Alter or Substitute Exam Records (VTL §392.00), an Unclassified Misdemeanor, and sentenced to 179 days imprisonment. He now moves, pursuant to Criminal Procedure Law §160.59, to have his convictions sealed. The People1 are in receipt of the Petitioner’s application and filed a response in opposition on April 19, 2019.Based upon the Petitioners application, the People’s response, the court records, and all relevant statutes and case law, the Petitioner’s application is GRANTED for the reasons stated herein:PROCEDURAL HISTORY/FACTSThe Petitioner was born in Haiti and immigrated to the United States with his family at the age of 13.In 1990, the Petitioner was indicted, under indictment number 14254-90, and charged with several counts of Grand Larceny and Offering a False Instrument for Filing. The charges stem from allegations that, between October 1988 and October 1990, the Petitioner stole unemployment benefits by falsifying documents (Maverov, Affirmation in Opposition to Motion to Seal, 4 and Ex. “A” attached thereto [hereinafter "People's Opposition"]).On May 20,1991, the Petitioner plead guilty to one count of Grand Larceny in the Third Degree (PL §155.35) and was sentenced to 5 years of probation, fined $5,000, and had to make restitution in the amount of $49,453 (People’s Opposition and Ex. “B” attached thereto). On July 7, 1993, the sentencing court revoked probation and re-sentenced the Petitioner to 1 year in jail because he had failed to make appropriate restitution payments (id. at 6).In 2003, the Petitioner was arrested a second time and charged, under SCI 06961-2003, with 9 counts of Tampering with Public Records and related charges. His arrest stems from allegations that in an attempt to avoid paying $8,800 in parking fines, he repeatedly presented falsified tickets to administrative law judges, who dismissed the tickets as defective (id. at 7 and Ex. “D” attached thereto). In 2004, the Petitioner pled guilty to Tampering with Physical Evidence (PL §215.40) and sentenced, as a prior felony offender, to 11/2 to 3 years in prison (id. at 7 and Ex. “E” attached thereto).While incarcerated on his 2004 conviction, the federal government commenced deportation proceedings against the Petitioner on the grounds that both his 1991 and 2004 convictions were aggravated felonies (id. at 10). In 2010, the federal government ordered that the Petitioner be deported. In response, he moved to vacate his 2004 conviction on the grounds that he received ineffective assistance of counsel. The People agreed to allow the Petitioner to re-plead to a lesser non-deportable offense, VTL §392, in exchange for a jail sentence of 179 days (id. at 11 and Ex. “G” attached thereto). In 2011, the Petitioner entered his plea of guilty and received the promised sentenced on 179 days of incarceration to run nunc pro tunc from the date of his 2004 incarceration.In 2013, the Petitioner also moved to dismiss his 1991 conviction or, in the alternative, amend it in order to avoid the aggravated felony classification. After negotiating with the New York State Attorney General’s Office, the agency who prosecuted him in 1991, the Petitioner was allowed to re-plead to a felony offense that would not trigger deportation. In 2015, the court vacated the Petitioner’s initial conviction of Grand Larceny in the Third Degree (PL §155.35) and allowed him to plead guilty to Offering a False Instrument for Filing (PL §170.35). He was then sentenced to time served (id. at
