The defendant appeals an upward departure from the sentencing guidelines. We reverse.
During the defendant’s probation from a grand theft conviction, he committed a burglary. As a consequence, an affidavit of probation violation and an information charging him with burglary were filed. The defendant entered a plea of guilty to the burglary charge and admitted the probation violation. At his sentencing, the assistant state attorney and defense counsel stipulated to a one cell upward departure from the recommended sentence based on the probation violation. The recommended sentence thus was between five and one-half to seven years in prison. The trial judge erroneously imposed sentences totalling eight and one-half years imprisonment on the ground that the defendant committed the substantive offense of burglary at a time when he would still have been incarcerated under his previous split sentence for grand theft had he not been released early due to gain time accrual. Such a departure ground is impermissible because the judicial system does not control gain time. It is an administrative matter controlled by the Department of Corrections. Thompson v. State,
Reversed and remanded.
