In a six-page order, the appellate court stated that the lower court did not commit any error when it ordered the revocation of Jerome Blesoch’s probation and requiring him to spend one year in jail for convictions that occurred in 2008.
Blesoch in his appeal claimed that the court improperly increased his original sentence beyond its fixed term and therefore violated his constitutional right to be free from double jeopardy.
According to court records on May 28, 2008, the republic charged Blesoch with three counts of trafficking in a controlled substance and one count of drug possession.
Blesoch pled guilty to two of the trafficking counts.
On August 12, 2008, the trial court accepted his pleas agreement, imposed a three-year prison sentence, suspended the entire sentence and placed Blesoch on probation for three years.
However, after one year of serving his probation, Blesoch again was arrested for grand larceny, accessory after the fact to burglary, aiding and abetting burglary, driving under the influence, and reckless driving.
With the new conviction, the trial court sentenced him to five years in prison on these counts, suspended final three years and ordered probation for that period.
Blesoch in his appeal argued that all punishment for his 2008 offense-whether probation or jail time must conclude within three years of the date of the original sentence, that is by August 12, 2011.
Thr trial court order requires his imprisonment for the convictions to occur until at least August 28, 2012.
“Because probation and imprisonment are distinct parts of a single punishment, the execution of a suspended sentence upon revocation does not violate the double jeopardy clause,” the appellate court stated.
The ruling said that “executing a suspended sentence upon revoking probation, however is merely the second part of the original punishment. It is a consequence that the defendant knew would be coming if he did not comply with the terms of probation.”
The appellate court also ruled that the trial court merely imposed a three-year prison sentence but suspended it to afford Blesoch the opportunity to avoid jail time if he complied with the terms of probation.
It added because he failed to do so, the court has discretion to execute his entire original sentence.
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