Another guilty plea reversed by Ohio's Second District Court of Appeals. This time because the trial judge made a promise he could not fulfill. The defendant pleaded guilty to trafficking in heroin in an amount equal to or greater than 250 grams. This charge required that the defendant be sentenced to 10 years. But the trial judge promised the defendant that he would be sentenced to no more than 7 years if he pleaded guilty. He was sentenced to 7 years of mandatory prison time. The Court of Appeals found that the guilty plea was void and remanded the case to the trial court. Click here for the full decision.
On remand this defendant was sentenced to 6 years of NON-mandatory time.
