Ordered that the judgment is affirmed.
The trial court properly concluded that the defendant waived his right to be present at his trial, since the defendant had twice been informed that the court would proceed in his absence if he failed to appear (see, People v Sanchez, 65 N.Y.2d 436; People v Parker, 57 N.Y.2d 136). Moreover, the court did not improvidently exercise its discretion in proceeding in absentia, since it was apparent under the circumstances that the defendant did not intend to appear for trial (see, People v Parker, supra, at 142).
In addition, the court properly denied the defense counsel's request to withdraw from the case. Representation by the Legal Aid Society of both the defendant and a prosecution witness, either in the past or at the time of the defendant's trial, does not in itself deprive the defendant of effective representation (see, People v Wilkins, 28 N.Y.2d 53, 55; People v Villanueva, 181 A.D.2d 702; People v Liberty, 147 A.D.2d 502, 503-504). The defendant has failed to demonstrate on this appeal that the alleged conflict of interest affected the conduct of the defense (see, People v McDonald, 68 N.Y.2d 1, 8; People v Lombardo, 61 N.Y.2d 97, 103; People v Villanueva, supra).
The sentence imposed was not excessive (see, People v Suitte, 90 A.D.2d 80). O'Brien, J.P., Copertino, Pizzuto and Santucci, JJ., concur.