Q: My fiance had a plea agreement with a cap of 20 years. On Friday he was sentenced and the judge gave him 68, suspended
48, and left him with the max amount of 20 years. My question is whether or not a judge is allowed to exceed the cap limit and suspend the excess in order to meet the agreement.
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A: If the plea agreement only concerned itself with the amount of active time to be imposed, then the judge did nothing irregular by including a suspended sentence. This is assuming that the statutory penalties for the offense(s) involved allowed for at least 68 years of incarceration. This is something that your fiance's lawyer should be able to explain.
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