NOT FINAL UNTIL TIME EXPIRES TO FILE REHEARING 

MOTION AND, IF FILED, DETERMINED 

IN THE DISTRICT COURT OF APPEAL 

OF FLORIDA 

SECOND DISTRICT 

LAGARRIAN R. DONALDSON, ) 

 ) 

 Appellant, ) 

 ) 

v. ) Case No. 2D13-2407 

 ) 

STATE OF FLORIDA, ) 

 ) 

 Appellee. ) 

___________________________________ ) 

Opinion filed 

Appeal pursuant to Fla. R. App. P. 

9.141(b)(2) from the Circuit Court for 

Pinellas County; Thane B. Covert, 

Judge. 

Lagarrian R. Donaldson, pro se. 

Pamela Jo Bondi, Attorney General, 

Tallahassee, and Brandon R. Christian, 

Assistant Attorney General, Tampa, for 

Appellee. 

PER CURIAM. 

Lagarrian R. Donaldson appeals the postconviction court order granting in 

part and summarily denying in part his motion filed pursuant to Florida Rule of Criminal 

Procedure 3.850. The State properly concedes error. Therefore, we reverse and 

remand for an evidentiary hearing on one of Donaldson's claims. We affirm the denial 

of his remaining claims without comment. 
- 2 -

Donaldson pleaded no contest to first-degree burglary, and the court 

sentenced him as a youthful offender to three years' imprisonment followed by three 

years' probation. During his incarceration, Donaldson successfully completed the 

youthful offender training program, also known as "boot camp." Donaldson was 

resentenced to probation for the remainder of his original prison sentence followed by 

the original three years' probation. 

As a part of a negotiated agreement, Donaldson admitted to violating his 

probation by committing the new offenses of burglary of a dwelling, a second-degree 

felony, and grand theft, a third-degree felony. The court revoked Donaldson's probation 

and resentenced him to fifteen years' imprisonment for first-degree burglary, and, for the 

new law violations, to fifteen years' imprisonment for burglary and five years' 

imprisonment for grand theft, all to be served concurrently. 

Donaldson then filed this motion for postconviction relief, alleging in part 

that (1) his fifteen-year sentence for first-degree burglary was illegal because he was 

originally sentenced as a youthful offender and had successfully completed boot camp; 

and (2) his plea was involuntary because counsel misadvised him that he faced life in 

prison for first-degree burglary when he actually only faced up to a year in jail after 

violating probation. The postconviction court granted relief on Donaldson's first claim 

after the State conceded error; under the statute applicable to Donaldson, a youthful 

offender who violated probation could not be sentenced to more than 364 days in jail if 

he had completed the youthful offender "boot camp" program. See §§ 958.04(2)(b), 
- 3 -

.045(5)(c), Fla. Stat. (2005);1 Cutler v. State, 927 So. 2d 249, 250 (Fla. 2d DCA 2006); 

Bloodworth v. State, 769 So. 2d 1117, 1118 (Fla. 2d DCA 2000). He was resentenced 

to one year in jail for first-degree burglary. However, the postconviction court denied 

Donaldson's involuntary plea claim, reasoning that Donaldson had already received 

relief in the form of resentencing. 

The postconviction court erred in denying this claim. When a defendant 

enters into a plea agreement for an illegal sentence, the correction of the illegal 

sentence does not necessarily preclude the defendant from stating a claim that his plea 

was involuntary. "[W]hen a defendant pleads guilty with the understanding that the 

sentence he or she receives in exchange is legal, when in fact the sentence is not legal, 

the defendant should be given the opportunity to withdraw the plea when later 

challenging the legality of the sentence." Forbert v. State, 437 So. 2d 1079, 1081 (Fla. 

1983). As the State concedes, Donaldson alleged a facially sufficient claim that is not 

conclusively refuted by the record. See Davis v. State, 15 So. 3d 770, 772 (Fla. 2d 

DCA 2009). Therefore, we reverse the summary denial of this claim and remand for an 

evidentiary hearing. 

Affirmed in part, reversed in part, and remanded. 

VILLANTI, WALLACE, and SLEET, JJ., Concur. 

 1Section 958.045 has since been amended to remove this limitation on 

sentencing. See ch. 06-270, § 1, at 2842, Laws of Fla.