People v. Giampaolo

In People v. Giampaolo, 385 Ill. App. 3d 999, 898 N.E.2d 130, 325 Ill. Dec. 397 (2008), the defendant was sentenced to 8 years in a Kane County case and 10 years in a McHenry County case to be served consecutively, after pleading guilty to a Class 1 felony in each county. Giampaolo, 385 Ill. App. 3d at 1000, 898 N.E.2d at 132. In the Kane County case, the record was devoid of any evidence about whether the defendant was properly admonished about the two years he would have to serve on MSR and the reviewing court presumed he was properly admonished. Giampaolo, 385 Ill. App. 3d at 1004, 898 N.E.2d at 135-36. However, the defendant was not so admonished in the McHenry County case and the State conceded that he was not. Giampaolo, 385 Ill. App. 3d at 1004, 898 N.E.2d at 135. The defendant did not file any postjudgment motions or a direct appeal. Giampaolo, 385 Ill. App. 3d at 1000, 898 N.E.2d at 132. In his postconviction petition, the defendant argued, in relevant part, that his 10-year McHenry County sentence must be reduced to 8 years because of the 2-year MSR term he was not admonished about in the McHenry County plea proceedings. Giampaolo, 385 Ill. App. 3d at 1000, 898 N.E.2d at 132. The Giampaolo court found significant the fact that the defendant had been properly admonished about MSR in the Kane County because the defendant's 8-year sentence in Kane County was to run consecutively with his 10-year sentence in McHenry County and, therefore, the defendant could serve only one term of MSR after serving his consecutive sentences. Giampaolo, 385 Ill. App. 3d at 1005, 898 N.E.2d at 136. The court found that the defendant, who received a total sentence of 18 years in prison plus 2 years of MSR, would have received that same sentence even if the trial court in McHenry County had properly advised the defendant about MSR. Giampaolo, 385 Ill. App. 3d at 1005, 898 N.E.2d at 136. Accordingly, the court found that the defendant's sentence was no more onerous than the one he was told he would receive and, therefore, the defendant had failed to establish that the trial court's incomplete admonishments prejudiced him. Giampaolo, 385 Ill. App. 3d at 1005, 898 N.E.2d at 136. The court affirmed the trial court's third-stage denial of the defendant's postconviction petition because the defendant had failed to make a substantial showing that his constitutional rights were violated when the trial court in McHenry County failed to admonish him about MSR. Giampaolo, 385 Ill. App. 3d at 1005, 898 N.E.2d at 136.