Commonwealth v. Ruiz

**683 Once again we have occasion to interpret G. L. c. 279, § 25 ( a ) ( § 25 [ a ] ), which requires that a "habitual criminal" -- a defendant who has been convicted of a felony and has two prior convictions resulting in State or Federal prison sentences of three years or more -- be sentenced to the maximum term provided by **684 law on the underlying conviction. We conclude that, although the predicate convictions must arise from separate incidents or episodes, Commonwealth v. Garvey , 477 Mass. 59 , 66, 76 N.E.3d 987 (2017), the offenses need not be separately prosecuted. We further…