Summary
In State v. Pegues, 26-133 (La.App. 2 Cir. 8/17/94); 641 So.2d 1080, the court held that three consecutive six-year sentences for three counts of forgery were not excessive, given that the defendant was a fourth felony offender, and on probation when he committed the offenses.
Summary of this case from State v. GaspardOpinion
Nos. 26133-KA, 26134-KA.
August 17, 1994.
APPEAL FROM ELEVENTH JUDICIAL DISTRICT COURT, PARISH OF DESOTO, STATE OF LOUISIANA, HONORABLE ELIZABETH A. PICKETT, J.
W. Charles Brown, Public Defender, Mansfield, for appellant.
Richard Ieyoub, Atty. Gen., Don Burkett, Dist. Atty., Mansfield, for appellee.
Before NORRIS, LINDSAY and BROWN, JJ.
In June 1993, defendant, Michael Pegues, pled guilty to three separate forgery charges. In return for his guilty pleas, the state dismissed two other forgery charges and agreed to concurrent sentences. On October 14, 1993, Pegues, who was 32 years old, received three six year concurrent hard labor terms.
After the trial court denied his motion to reconsider, Pegues appealed, claiming that the sentences were excessive and that the trial court failed to comply with the sentencing guidelines. All three charges were consolidated on appeal. Finding that the trial court applied the guidelines and articulated the sentencing considerations and further finding no constitutional excessiveness in the sentences imposed, we affirm.
DISCUSSION
These charges arose when defendant forged his mother's signature to separate checks on January 3, May 9 and May 22, 1993. The checks were cashed at three different businesses. On each count, defendant was exposed to sentences of ten years at hard labor. LSA-R.S. 14:72. As a fourth felony offender, he faced an enhanced penalty of not less than twenty years. LSA-R.S. 15:529.1. Although less than the maximum permitted under the statute, the sentence imposed on each count was the maximum allowed by the guidelines. The record reflects that the trial court specifically considered and complied with the Felony Sentencing Guidelines.
When defendant pled guilty, he was a fourth felony offender and on probation. Defendant's prior criminal history related to similar crimes of issuing forged and worthless checks. Moreover, defendant was on probation for forgery when two of the present charges were committed. Thus, prior efforts at rehabilitation were unsuccessful. After reviewing the record, the circumstances of the offense and the considerations articulated by the trial judge, we find the sentences imposed were clearly not excessive. State v. Winzer, 465 So.2d 817 (La.App. 2d Cir. 1985); State v. Davis, 571 So.2d 210 (La.App. 3d Cir. 1990); State v. Binion, 511 So.2d 43 (La.App. 3d Cir. 1987).
Defendant's assignments of error lack merit. For the foregoing reasons, defendant's sentences are affirmed.
Affirmed.
LINDSAY, J., concurs in the result.
I concur in the result. The trial court imposed sentence within the range suggested by the Louisiana Felony Sentencing Guidelines (La. SG) grid. Such a sentence is appropriate for an offender with that criminal history, and is not excessive under the Louisiana Constitution. State v. Barnes, 607 So.2d 872 (La.App. 2d Cir. 1992); State v. Essex, 618 So.2d 574 (La.App. 2d Cir. 1993); State v. McEachern, 624 So.2d 43 (La.App. 2d Cir. 1993); State v. Gladney, 626 So.2d 778 (La.App. 2d Cir. 1993); La.S.G. § 201 (C).