New York State grades felonies from A to E, with A being the most
serious. Felonies are also, for the most part, classified by the amount of
violence involved with their commission. Sentences can range all the way
from the death penalty or life in prison for an A1 felony offense to 16 months
for a Class E, non-violent felony (no prior-convictions.)
Misdemeanors are classified as A, B and U,
again with A being the most serious. The maximum amount of jail time you
can receive with a misdemeanor charge conviction is 1 year.
The third classification is a violation.
Maximum sentencing for a violation is 15 days in jail.
Criminal History Classifications
The criminal history of the accused also
has a bearing on what charges he/she will face. Listed below are the
categories:
No Priors: No felony
convictions ever or no felony convictions within the last ten years.
The ten year period is dated from the time the person was released
from prison for the prior offense. Youthful
offenses do not count as prior convictions, however, felony
convictions in other states, at the federal level, or even in some
other countries may be considered as prior felonies in New York
state.
Non-Violent Predicate: A
non-violent predicate is applied if there has been a conviction
within the past 10 years for a felony with no violence.
Violent Predicate: A violent
predicate is applied if there has been a conviction for a violent
felony within the last 10 years.
Persistent Felony Offenders:
If a person has two or more felony convictions in his past, he may
be considered as a persistent felony offender and face LIFE in
prison.
Juvenile Offender: Children
16 and younger can sometimes be prosecuted in adult court for very
serious crimes. These juvenile offenders do not face the same
types of jail sentences as do adults.
Youthful Offender: The
youthful offender program is usually applied to persons 19 years or
younger at the time the offense was committed. Under the
Youthful Offender program, a person is not considered to be
convicted of a crime by New York state. (This may differ at
the federal level if immigration issues are involved.) The
sentencing rules differ from those applied to adults as well.
A youthful offender can receive a maximum of sentence of 16 months
to four years in prison.
Sentence
Lengths
Please note that these sentence lengths are
applicable to adults. Also, check the side bar for
comments about the revised sentence lengths for drug offenses.
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