Opinion by
1 Defendant, Adelbert Bassford, appeals the district court's order vacating his original sentence and imposing a new sentence. We vacate the new sentence and remand for resentencing.
I. Factual Background
2 Defendant was charged with one count of violating the Colorado Organized Crime Control Act (COCCA), and with multiple counts of securities fraud and felony theft in Denver District Court in case number 02CR5403. He was later charged with one count each of felony theft, defrauding a secured creditor, and forgery in Denver Dis
18 A jury found defendant guilty of all counts ultimately tried, namely: one count of a COCCA violation, multiple counts of seeurities fraud and felony theft, and one count each of defrauding a secured ereditor and forgery.
T 4 The district court sentenced defendant to concurrent terms in the custody of the Department of Corrections (DOC) on the convictions in case number O08CR4422, with the sentence for the felony theft conviction controlling-four years in the custody of the DOC plus mandatory parole. The district court sentenced defendant to concurrent terms of incarceration in the custody of the DOC on the convictions in case number 02CR5403, with the sentence for the felony COCCA violation controlling. On that count, the court sentenced defendant to eighteen years in the custody of the DOC plus mandatory parole; however, the court suspended ten years of the prison sentence on the condition that, upon his release from DOC custody, defendant successfully complete twelve years of probation with the economic crime unit, The prison sentences on the concurrent counts were each less than the unsus-pended eight years on the COCCA count.
[ 5 The court imposed the sentence for the 02CR5403 convictions consecutively to the sentence for the convictions.
T6 On appeal, the forgery conviction was vacated, but the judgment and sentence were affirmed as to all other counts. People v. Bassford, (Colo.App. No. O8CA0221,
17 Then, after serving approximately five years in prison, defendant was transferred to community corrections. While there, he filed a motion seeking to prohibit probation supervision until he completed his parole. In response to that motion, the People asserted that defendant's sentence was illegal and asked the court to modify the sentence by removing the suspension, resulting in an aggregate sentence of twenty-two years in the custody of the DOC plus mandatory parole.
T8 Defendant, too, claimed the sentence was illegal. But he contended in a Crim. P. 35(a) motion that the appropriate remedy was for the court to remove the probation requirement only, leaving the suspension of ten years in DOC custody intact.
T9 To summarize, the People wanted the sentence declared illegal and modified to impose the entire twenty-two-year sentence in DOC custody. Defendant wanted the sentence declared illegal, but the ten-year suspension retained without the need for probation.
{10 However, the district court did not explicitly rule on whether the original sentence was illegal. Instead, the court relied on Crim. P. 85(b) to vacate the original sentence and then resentenced defendant. Taking the sentences in the aggregate, the court sentenced defendant to twenty-two years in DOC custody plus mandatory parole. The court then suspended the entire DOC sentence (giving defendant credit for just over twelve years of time served) and imposed twelve years of probation with the economic crime unit.
{111 On appeal, defendant contends that his original sentence was illegal and that the district court erred by resentencing him rather than simply removing the probation requirement.
12 We conclude the district court erred in resentencing defendant pursuant to Crim. P. 85(b). We further conclude that the origi
II. Crim. P. 85(b)
{ 13 The district court erred in relying on Crim. P. 35(b) to modify defendant's sentence because the court did not reduce his sentence.
{114 Crim. P. 85(b) authorizes a district court to reduce a sentence. Crim. P. 35(b);, Downing v. People,
The court may reduce the sentence provided that a motion for reduction of sentence is filed [within a certain time framel.... The court may reduce a sentence on its own initiative within any of the above periods of time.
Crim. P. 85(b) (emphasis added); see also People v. Arnold,
{15 Here, rather than granting a more lenient sentence, the district court acted under Crim. P. 35(b) to impose a sentence which attempted to give effect to the intent of the trial court's original sentence. According to the district court, Crim. P. 85(b) "permits the Court on its own motion to modify a sentence and ... the Court is going to exercise its discretion in this case and I am going to modify the sentence.... [and] order [the] exact same sentences be imposed." The court then suspended the pris'on sentences, placed defendant on probation, and credited him with 4,426 days of presen-tence confinement credit (which the court stated was based on defendant serving twelve years in DOC custody, plus forty-six days prior to that).
116 Notably, neither party contends that the district court reduced defendant's sentence. The People contend defendant was resentenced to the same sentence; defendant contends the district court increased his sentence. We agree that the district court did not reduce defendant's sentence.
1.17 Because Crim. P. 85(b) provides a mechanism for the reduction of a sentence, rather than for the correction of an fllegal sentence, the court erred in attempting to correct an illegal sentence by modifying rather than reducing it under Crim. P. 85(b). See Downing,
{18 We turn next to defendant's original sentence. ’
III. Original Sentence
119 Defendant contends that the court imposed an illegal sentence by ordering him to complete probation after his release from DOC custody. We agree.
120 The legality of a sentence is a question of law that we review de novo. People v. Jenkins,
121 On the COCCA violation, the trial court suspended ten years of an eighteen-year DOC sentence on the condition that defendant complete probation after serving the first eight years in DOC custody. This is similar to the situation considered in People v. District Court,
1 22 The supreme court concluded that the district court exceeded its statutory authority by suspending nine years of the ten-year sentence and placing the defendant on probation. Id. The supreme court stated that "while the policy of granting probation with a period of penal confinement as a condition may be beneficial in some instances, it [is] for the legislature to declare such a policy and not the court." Id. at 488,
123 The General Assembly had provided for the possibility of incarceration as a condition of probation, but had established limits thereon. Id. (citing § 16-11-202, C.R.S.1978 (1978 Repl.Vol. 8)). As it does today, the probation statute allowed that:
In addition to imposing other conditions, the court has the power to commit the defendant to any jail operated by the county or city and county in which the offense was committed during such time or for such intervals within the period of probation as the court determines. The aggregate length of any such commitment whether continuous or at designated intervals shall not exceed ninety days for a felony, sixty days for a misdemeanor, or ten days for a petty offense unless it is a part of a work release program.
Id. (internal quotation marks omitted); § 18-1.3-202(1), C.R.98.2018. Accordingly, a court "is not free to impose as a condition of probation any period of incarceration in the state penitentiary ..., nor may any period of incarceration in a county jail exceed the prescribed time limits." People v. Dist. Court,
124 Here, as in People v. District Court, the court was without statutory authority to suspend ten years of the eighteen year DOC sentence on the condition that defendant complete economic crime probation after the initial eight years in the DOC. See also People v. Flenniken,
1[ 25 We reject the People's contention that People v. Trujillo, 261 P.8d 485 (Colo.App. 2010), authorizes the sentence imposed here. The probation sentence in that case was imposed consecutively to the prison sentence in a different case. Id. at 487-89. The sentence here included prison and probation on a single count.
11‘26 Because we conclude the sentence originally imposed was illegal, we next consider the appropriate remedy in this situation.
IV. Remedying an Megal Sentence
T27 "The court may correct a sentence that was not authorized by law ... at any time." Crim. P. 35(a); see also People v.
128 How to correct an illegal sentence, however, can be a difficult question. Accordingly, we will proceed by describing some of the concerns that may arise in remedying illegal sentences, outlining approaches that have been developed, and explaining the approach we conclude is appropriate here based on Colorado law.
A. Potential Concerns in Remedying Illegal Sentences
129 Where an illegal sentence had been imposed, a legal sentence generally may be imposed in its stead without running afoul of double jeopardy. See Bozza v. United States,
130 Thus, on the one hand, our supreme court has noted that imposing a legal sentence in place of an illegal one "protects society's legitimate interest in adequate sentences for convicted criminals and in the overall uniformity of sentences imposed on similarly situated violators. Granting defendants a right to benefit from illegal sentences serves no sound public policy." People v. Dist. Court,
132 The portion of an illegal sentence which has been served cannot be ignored in instituting a valid sentence. See King v. United States,
T33 Further, depending on when the illegality is discovered, a defendant may have developed an expectation of finality regarding the sentence or a portion thereof. See People v. Castellano,
1 34 Fear of greater punishment upon correction may also burden a defendant's right to challenge an illegal sentence. See United States v. DeLeo,
11 35 And judicial economy is further implicated in that, where greater punishment is imposed, a defendant may institute further proceedings asserting the new sentence is vindictive. See People v. Montgomery,
B. Approaches to Remedying Illegal Sentencing
136 In light of these many and varied considerations, different approaches have been developed to remedy illegal sentences. The two approaches relevant here are (1) lopping off the illegal portion of a sentence where it is severable from the legal portion and (2) resentencing.
1. Lopping
37 Where a court has imposed a sentence in excess of its maximum statutory authority, one appellate approach is to simply "lop off" the excess. Thus, the supreme court has held that a sentence to a term of imprisonment in excess of the maximum statutory penalty "is invalid only as to the excess" and a reviewing court could "remit the invalid excess and so reduce the sentences to [the maximum prison term] which the district court had authority to impose." Abeyta v. People,
T 38 Some courts extend this approach and have remedied illegal sentences by lopping when "a sentence was composed of legal and illegal 'portions,' so that the illegal part could be cleanly 'lopped off?" Contreras-Subias,
T39 This lopping may be used as an exercise of the appellate court's discretion in appropriate cireumstances. See State v. Keutlia,
40 Or, there may be other requirements built in to ensure a defendant's rights are protected. See Cassell v. Cupp,
2. Resentencing
41 Another approach that has been taken to remedying illegal sentences is resentenc-ing. Several courts have explicitly rejected defense arguments that lopping is the proper remedy and approved of resentencing instead. See, eg., United States v. Martenson, 178 F.8d 457 (7th Cir.1999) (where original sentence included an illegal mix of prison and probation, although the defendant argued proper remedy was to vacate probation requirement, district court did not err in imposing new legal sentence including imprisonment on some counts and probation on another count); Campbell v. State,
1 42 One court also rejected a lopping argument advanced by the prosecution, finding that resentencing was appropriate in that case, where severing the illegal portion of a sentence would be prejudicial to defendant. Cassell,
C. Colorado's Approach to Remedying Ilegal Sentences
" 43 Defendant contends that (1) Colorado courts have adopted the lopping approach and that, in this case, (2) the court is required to remedy the illegal sentence by lopping off the illegal probation requirement, but leaving the remainder of his sentence intact. We disagree with both contentions.
144 First, we conclude that, based on Colorado precedent, resentencing is the proper remedy in this case. The lopping approach depends on the severability of portions of a sentence. This is inconsistent with our supreme court's pronouncement that "[als long as any aspect of a sentence is inconsistent with our statutory requirements, the complete sentence is illegal." Delgado v. People,
T45 Defendant's entire original, illegal sentence is therefore void. See Flenniken,
146 "[Clertain illegal sentences can be corrected through resentencing and imposition of a legal sentence while other illegal sentences require that the judgment of conviction be vacated." Delgado,
1 47 Thus, although Abeyta furthered judicial economy by permitting the appellate court to lop off the excess of a prison sentence greater than the statutory maximum, we conclude the supreme court has not extended appellate discretion to restructure the sentence in the factual cireumstances of this case.
148 Further, defendant contends that the lopping approach in this case would result only in the removal of the probation requirement. Although the record is not clear as to precisely how much prison time defendant has credit for, it appears from the record and the representations of counsel for both parties that defendant has served substantially all of the prison time called for under the original sentence. Because that sentence called for an initial period of incarceration of eight years, which is the minimum for a class 2 felony, removing the probation requirement would seem to result in a legal sentence of eight years imprisonment in this case.
1 49 We note, however, that defendant was not simply sentenced to eight years imprisonment to be followed by probation. Rather, the district court imposed an eighteen year prison sentence on the COCCA count, but suspended ten years on the condition that defendant complete twelve years of probation. Thus, one way to lop off the illegal portion of the sentence to reach a legal sentence-removing the suspended ten years imprisonment along with the probation requirement-could result in imposition of the entire cighteen year prison sentence. See Fierro, 206 P.Bd at 465 (suspension of a sentence is permitted to function in conjunction with a statutorily authorized sentence to probation, not as a sentencing alternative separate and distinct from probation); see also Cassell,
V. Conclusion
150 For these reasons we conclude that resentencing, rather than merely deleting the illegal portion of the sentence, is appropriate in this case to remedy the error in the original sentence. See Delgado,
51 Accordingly, we vacate the new sentence imposed and remand for resentencing.
Notes
. Although the mittimuses reflect that the sentences in each case were to be served consecutively to the other, the trial court made clear in its oral pronouncement that the 03CR4422 prison terms be served first: "All of the counts in the 02 case will run concurrently with each other, but again they will run consecutively with the '03 case. The reason I wanted to sentence that one first is that I want the four-year sentences served before the unusual COCCA cases [sic] is served." See People v. Rockne,
. The trial court had stated its intent to effectively sentence defendant to twelve years in DOC custody followed by twelve years of probation, but did not explain how parole would factor in. Because defendant had nearly completed the un-suspended incarceration portion of the sentence when the illegal sentence issue arose, the district court avoided the parole issue on resentencing by suspending the entirety of the DOC sentences, including the portion defendant had already served.
. Because the court erred in modifying defendant's sentence under Crim. P. 35(b), we disagree with the People's contention that defendant's claim that his original sentence was illegal is moot.
. There is no indication in the record that defendant intentionally delayed seeking correction of his sentence in an attempt to "game" the system, and we do not infer that he did. Cf. United States v. Martenson,
. When an illegal sentence is imposed following a legal plea bargain, the proper remedy, if possible, is to modify the illegal sentence but permit the valid and enforceable plea agreement to stand. People v. Antonio-Antimo,
. Defendant's expectation of finality was alluded to but not properly developed for consideration on this appeal.
