N.Y. PEN Law § 70.00 — New York Code / Act PEN / Part 2 / Title E / Article 70 / Section 70.00
Sentence of imprisonment for felony
Status: in_force

§ 70.00 Sentence of imprisonment for felony.\n  * 1. Indeterminate sentence. Except as provided in subdivisions four,\nfive and six of this section or section 70.80 of this article, a\nsentence of imprisonment for a felony, other than a felony defined in\narticle two hundred twenty or two hundred twenty-one of this chapter,\nshall be an indeterminate sentence. When such a sentence is imposed, the\ncourt shall impose a maximum term in accordance with the provisions of\nsubdivision two of this section and the minimum period of imprisonment\nshall be as provided in subdivision three of this section.\n  * NB Effective until September 1, 2027\n  * 1. Indeterminate sentence. Except as provided in subdivisions four\nand five of this section or section 70.80 of this article, a sentence of\nimprisonment for a felony, other than a felony defined in article two\nhundred twenty or two hundred twenty-one of this chapter, shall be an\nindeterminate sentence. When such a sentence is imposed, the court shall\nimpose a maximum term in accordance with the provisions of subdivision\ntwo of this section and the minimum period of imprisonment shall be as\nprovided in subdivision three of this section.\n  * NB Effective September 1, 2027\n  2. Maximum term of sentence. The maximum term of an indeterminate\nsentence shall be at least three years and the term shall be fixed as\nfollows:\n  (a) For a class A felony, the term shall be life imprisonment;\n  (b) For a class B felony, the term shall be fixed by the court, and\nshall not exceed twenty-five years;\n  (c) For a class C felony, the term shall be fixed by the court, and\nshall not exceed fifteen years;\n  (d) For a class D felony, the term shall be fixed by the court, and\nshall not exceed seven years; and\n  (e) For a class E felony, the term shall be fixed by the court, and\nshall not exceed four years.\n  3. Minimum period of imprisonment. The minimum period of imprisonment\nunder an indeterminate sentence shall be at least one year and shall be\nfixed as follows:\n  (a) In the case of a class A felony, the minimum period shall be fixed\nby the court and specified in the sentence.\n  (i) For a class A-I felony, such minimum period shall not be less than\nfifteen years nor more than twenty-five years; provided, however, that\n(A) where a sentence, other than a sentence of death or life\nimprisonment without parole, is imposed upon a defendant convicted of\nmurder in the first degree as defined in section 125.27 of this chapter\nsuch minimum period shall be not less than twenty years nor more than\ntwenty-five years, and, (B) where a sentence is imposed upon a defendant\nconvicted of murder in the second degree as defined in subdivision five\nof section 125.25 of this chapter or convicted of aggravated murder as\ndefined in section 125.26 of this chapter, the sentence shall be life\nimprisonment without parole, and, (C) where a sentence is imposed upon a\ndefendant convicted of attempted murder in the first degree as defined\nin article one hundred ten of this chapter and subparagraph (i), (ii) or\n(iii) of paragraph (a) of subdivision one and paragraph (b) of\nsubdivision one of section 125.27 of this chapter or attempted\naggravated murder as defined in article one hundred ten of this chapter\nand section 125.26 of this chapter such minimum period shall be not less\nthan twenty years nor more than forty years.\n  (ii) For a class A-II felony, such minimum period shall not be less\nthan three years nor more than eight years four months, except that for\nthe class A-II felony of predatory sexual assault as defined in section\n130.95 of this chapter or the class A-II felony of predatory sexual\nassault against a child as defined in section 130.96 of this chapter,\nsuch minimum period shall be not less than ten years nor more than\ntwenty-five years.\n  (b) For any other felony, the minimum period shall be fixed by the\ncourt and specified in the sentence and shall be not less than one year\nnor more than one-third of the maximum term imposed.\n  4. Alternative definite sentence for class D and E felonies. When a\nperson, other than a second or persistent felony offender, is sentenced\nfor a class D or class E felony, and the court, having regard to the\nnature and circumstances of the crime and to the history and character\nof the defendant, is of the opinion that a sentence of imprisonment is\nnecessary but that it would be unduly harsh to impose an indeterminate\nor determinate sentence, the court may impose a definite sentence of\nimprisonment and fix a term of one year or less.\n  5. Life imprisonment without parole. Notwithstanding any other\nprovision of law, a defendant sentenced to life imprisonment without\nparole shall not be or become eligible for parole or conditional\nrelease. For purposes of commitment and custody, other than parole and\nconditional release, such sentence shall be deemed to be an\nindeterminate sentence. A defendant may be sentenced to life\nimprisonment without parole upon conviction for the crime of murder in\nthe first degree as defined in section 125.27 of this chapter and in\naccordance with the procedures provided by law for imposing a sentence\nfor such crime. A defendant who was eighteen years of age or older at\nthe time of the commission of the crime must be sentenced to life\nimprisonment without parole upon conviction for the crime of terrorism\nas defined in section 490.25 of this chapter, where the specified\noffense the defendant committed is a class A-I felony; the crime of\ncriminal possession of a chemical weapon or biological weapon in the\nfirst degree as defined in section 490.45 of this chapter; or the crime\nof criminal use of a chemical weapon or biological weapon in the first\ndegree as defined in section 490.55 of this chapter; provided, however,\nthat nothing in this subdivision shall preclude or prevent a sentence of\ndeath when the defendant is also convicted of the crime of murder in the\nfirst degree as defined in section 125.27 of this chapter. A defendant\nwho was seventeen years of age or younger at the time of the commission\nof the crime may be sentenced, in accordance with law, to the applicable\nindeterminate sentence with a maximum term of life imprisonment. A\ndefendant must be sentenced to life imprisonment without parole upon\nconviction for the crime of murder in the second degree as defined in\nsubdivision five of section 125.25 of this chapter or for the crime of\naggravated murder as defined in subdivision one of section 125.26 of\nthis chapter. A defendant may be sentenced to life imprisonment without\nparole upon conviction for the crime of aggravated murder as defined in\nsubdivision two of section 125.26 of this chapter.\n  * 6. Determinate sentence. Except as provided in subdivision four of\nthis section and subdivisions two and four of section 70.02, when a\nperson is sentenced as a violent felony offender pursuant to section\n70.02 or as a second violent felony offender pursuant to section 70.04\nor as a second felony offender on a conviction for a violent felony\noffense pursuant to section 70.06, the court must impose a determinate\nsentence of imprisonment in accordance with the provisions of such\nsections and such sentence shall include, as a part thereof, a period of\npost-release supervision in accordance with section 70.45.\n  * NB Repealed September 1, 2027\n