State v. Corprew

Syllabus

The defendant, who, in two separate cases, previously had been convicted on guilty pleas of two counts of the sale of a narcotic substance, appealed to this court from the judgments of the trial court denying his motions to correct an illegal sentence. The trial court sentenced the defendant in each case to five years of incarceration followed by seven years of special parole, to be served concurrently. Thereafter, the defendant filed motions to correct an illegal sentence, alleging that his sentences were illegal because they included a period of special parole, which is not a definite sentence. The trial court denied his motions and the defendant filed separate appeals to this court, which, sua sponte, consolidated the appeals. On appeal, the defendant claimed that his sentences were prohibited because special parole is not a definite sentence. Held that the trial court properly denied the defendant's motions to correct an illegal sentence: the combination of the defendant's period of incarcera- tion of five years followed by a period of seven years of special parole totaled twelve years, which did not exceed the maximum sentence of incarceration of twenty years for each conviction of the sale of a narcotic substance pursuant to statute ([Rev. to 2013] § 21a-278 [b]), and, accord- ingly, the defendant's sentences were explicitly authorized by statute and were not illegal. Argued October 25, 2019—officially released February 4, 2020