People v. Franco

OPINION OF THE COURT

Richard M. Klein, J.

May a defendant sentenced to probation without having been arraigned as a predicate offender be sentenced as a second felony offender for a violation of that probation? The court *490concludes that sentencing a defendant as a second felony offender in such circumstances is not only permissible, but mandatory.

On September 6, 1990, following his guilty plea to the crime of criminal sale of a controlled substance in the third degree (a class B felony), defendant was sentenced to lifetime probation. A violation of probation petition was filed on July 29, 1996.

At…