Commonwealth v. Steven T. Smith 2009 PA Super 209 (10/30/2009)
Topic: Drug Offenses – Mandatory Sentences – Sentencing Entrapment and Sentencing Manipulation
Summary: If the Commonwealth prolongs an investigation in order to increase a defendant’s sentence, the mandatory sentence will not apply to the latter sentences.
Facts: The Attorney General’s Drug Strike Force made four controlled drug buys from Steven T. Smith over the course of a year. The additional transactions raised the mandatory minimum sentence from three years to seven years. The Superior Court concluded that the additional mandatory time will not stand if the Commonwealth intentionally waited to arrest and prosecute Smith in order to make a more severe mandatory minimum sentence apply.