Maximum Penalties, Mandatory Minimum Offenses, and the Guidelines
What crimes have mandatory minimum offenses in Pennsylvania? What is the difference between Mandatory Minimum Offenses and the Guidelines?
A point of confusion in Pennsylvania criminal law is the difference between mandatory minimum offenses, maximum penalties, and the sentencing guidelines. While guidelines are applicable to all offenses, some offenses in particular carry minimum penalties in which the minimum penalty is required by law such that a Judge or Court is not allowed to deviate from that minimum standard. Likewise, all offenses carry with them a maximum in which a judge may not go beyond that maximum sentence. There are ways around mandatory minimums, however, if the prosecutor simply forgets about the minimum, doesn’t know about it, or agrees to waive the mandatory minimum requirement.
It is not uncommon to have an offense with a mandatory minimum but the guidelines are actually lower than the mandatory minimum. In that case, the Court must apply the mandatory minimum as it is statutorily required. Failure to do so will likely result in a Commonwealth appeal.
Some mandatory minimums are more well known than others. In Pennsylvania, if you are convicted of 1st degree murder, the minimum penalty is life without possibility of parole. Not everyone knows that, in Pennsylvania, if a defendant is convicted of first degree murder, the mandatory sentence is life.
Other offenses, such as rape or sexual offenses on a child, also carry mandatory minimum punishments. Drug offenses have a somewhat different scale for maximum penalties – as an example, a third conviction of possession of a controlled substance can potentially carry a penalty of 3 years in jail and a $25,000.00 fine.
Generally, if you are charged with a criminal offense, the maximum penalties are as follows:
Felony 1: 10-20 years’ imprisonment; $25,000 fine.
Felony 2: 5-10 years’ imprisonment; $25,000 fine.
Felony 3: 3.5-7 years’ imprisonment; $15,000 fine.
Misdemeanor 1: 2.5-5 years’ imprisonment; $10,000 fine.
Misdemeanor 2: 1-2 years’ imprisonment; $5,000 fine.
Misdemeanor 3: 6 months’ to 1 year imprisonment; $2,500 fine.
Summary offense: 90 days imprisonment; $300 fine.
Lastly, and statutorily, the minimum for any penalty in Pennsylvania may not exceed one half of the maximum sentence. Therefore, if you receive a sentence of “2-4 years” that means you are eligible for parole after 2 years, and would hypothetically be on parole for the remaining 2 years.
Some helpful charts and guides for sentencing are available below:
Minimums and Maximums:
The Complete 8th Edition Sentencing Guidelines (Pennsylvania):
