People v. Williams

This case presents question as to whether trial court properly denied defendant’s motion to withdraw his guilty plea on charge of unlawful delivery of controlled substance, where defendant agreed to 25-year sentence pursuant to said plea, and where defendant had been advised that he faced extended term sentence of up to 60 years under section 408 of Controlled Substance Act due to his prior criminal history. Appellate Court, in reversing trial court, found that section 408 was in conflict with section 5-8-2 of Code of Corrections, which would not subject defendant to extended term Class X sentencing, and that section 5-8-2 applied as the later-enacted statute. As such, defendant only faced sentence up to 30 years, and thus was entitled to withdraw his plea where he had been improperly informed of applicable sentencing range.