—Appeal by the defendant, as limited by his motion, from a sentence of the Supreme Court, Richmond County (Meyer, J.), imposed February 6, 1997.
Ordered that the appeal is dismissed.
The defendant has absconded and therefore is unavailable to obey the mandate of the court in the event of an affirmance (see, People v Howe, 32 NY2d 766, 767). Mangano, P. J., Rosenblatt, Thompson, Joy and Goldstein, JJ., concur.