PRIOR PRINTER'S NO. 132 PRINTER'S NO. 347
No. 135 Session of 1997
INTRODUCED BY ULIANA, WENGER, BRIGHTBILL, GERLACH, TOMLINSON,
HART, MURPHY, KASUNIC AND SLOCUM, JANUARY 21, 1997
SENATOR GREENLEAF, JUDICIARY, AS AMENDED, FEBRUARY 4, 1997
AN ACT
1 Amending Title 18 (Crimes and Offenses) of the Pennsylvania
2 Consolidated Statutes, providing for mandatory minimum A <--
3 penalty for possession of a controlled substance by an
4 inmate.
5 The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
6 hereby enacts as follows:
7 Section 1. Section 5123(a.2) of Title 18 of the Pennsylvania
8 Consolidated Statutes is amended to read:
9 § 5123. Contraband.
10 * * *
11 (a.2) Possession of controlled substance contraband by
12 inmate prohibited.--A prisoner or inmate commits a [misdemeanor
13 of the first degree] felony of the second degree if he
14 unlawfully has in his possession or under his control any
15 controlled substance in violation of section 13(a)(16) of The
16 Controlled Substance, Drug, Device and Cosmetic Act. For
17 purposes of this subsection, no amount shall be deemed de
18 minimis. Any inmate convicted of a violation of this subsection <--
1 shall be sentenced to a minimum sentence of at least two years
2 of total confinement notwithstanding any other provision of this
3 title or any other statute to the contrary. Nothing in this
4 subsection shall prevent the sentencing court from imposing a
5 sentence greater than that provided in this subsection, up to
6 the maximum penalty prescribed by this title for a felony of the
7 second degree. There shall be no authority in any court to
8 impose on an offender to which this subsection is applicable any
9 lesser sentence than provided for in this subsection or to place
10 such offender on probation or to suspend sentence. Sentencing
11 guidelines promulgated by the Pennsylvania Commission on
12 Sentencing shall not supersede the mandatory sentences provided
13 in this subsection. If a sentencing court refuses to apply this
14 subsection where applicable, the Commonwealth shall have the
15 right to appellate review of the action of the sentencing court.
16 The appellate court shall vacate the sentence and remand the
17 case to the sentencing court for imposition of a sentence in
18 accordance with this subsection if it finds that the sentence
19 was imposed in violation of this subsection.
20 * * *
21 Section 2. This act shall take effect in 60 days.
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