State v. Stansbury

Appellant asserts that the sentence is invalid for these reasons: (1) That it inflicts a cruel or unusual punishment upon him contrary to Article I, Section 14, of the Constitution; and (2) that in pronouncing the judgment the court abused its discretion by “failing to take into consideration defendant’s sentence in Federal Court for a similar offense.”

The defendant’s plea of nolo contendere constituted a formal declaration on his part that he would not contend with the Solicitor in respect to the charge, and was tantamount to a plea of guilty for the purposes of this particular criminal…