IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF IOWA

No. 14-1949

Filed August 5, 2015

STATE OF IOWA,

Plaintiff-Appellee,

vs.

JODY CLIFFORD MYERS,

Defendant-Appellant.

________________________________________________________________

Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Fayette County, John J. 

Bauercamper, Judge.

Jody Myers appeals his sentence, following a guilty plea, for aiding and 

abetting the delivery of a controlled substance as a habitual offender. 

AFFIRMED.

James T. Peters, Independence, for appellant.

Thomas J. Miller, Attorney General, Kelli Huser, Assistant Attorney 

General, Wayne Saur, County Attorney, and J.D. Villont, Assistant County 

Attorney, for appellee.

Considered by Vogel, P.J., and Potterfield and Mullins, JJ.
2

VOGEL, P.J.

Jody Myers appeals the district court’s correction of his sentence, 

following a guilty plea, for aiding and abetting the delivery of a controlled 

substance as a habitual offender. He asserts the district court erred by providing 

a more onerous sentence, in violation of the plea agreement, without notice or 

hearing, and in his absence. We conclude the district court properly corrected its 

original sentencing order given the previous imposition of the three-year 

mandatory minimum constituted an illegal sentence. With regard to Myers’s 

other claims, they are waived; consequently, we affirm Myers’s sentence.

In a hearing held on September 3, 2014, Myers entered a plea of guilty to 

aiding and abetting the delivery of less than five grams of methamphetamine, in 

violation of Iowa Code sections 124.401(1)(c)(6), 703.1, 902.9(3), and 902.8 

(2013). The district court held the sentencing hearing immediately following the 

acceptance of the plea and imposed the agreed-to term of incarceration of fifteen 

years. The court incorrectly informed Myers that he would be required to serve a 

three-year mandatory minimum before he would be eligible for parole. The 

written sentencing order was consistent with the court’s statement at the hearing. 

On October 29, 2014, the court entered a supplemental sentencing order

noting Iowa Code section 124.413(1)1applied due to Myers’s conviction under 

section 124.401(1)(c)(6), and therefore, the mandatory minimum was one-third of 

the sentence imposed. Consequently, the supplemental order increased the 

mandatory minimum to five years but otherwise affirmed the original order. No 

 

1 The sentencing order stated section 124.13 was the applicable statute; however, this is 

clearly a scrivener’s error, given the order properly quoted Iowa Code section 

124.413(1).
3

hearing was held before the supplemental order was issued. Myers appeals the 

sentence.

We review challenges to the legality of a sentence for correction of errors 

at law. State v. Bruegger, 773 N.W.2d 862, 869 (Iowa 2009). To the extent 

Myers raises constitutional issues, our review is de novo. See id.

Iowa Code section 124.413 is a statute that requires the defendant serve 

a one-third mandatory minimum of the maximum sentence imposed, when he is 

convicted pursuant to section 124.401. See id. § 124.413(1) (“A person 

sentenced pursuant to section 124.401 . . . shall not be eligible for parole until the 

person has served a minimum period of confinement of one-third of the 

maximum indeterminate sentence prescribed by law.”); see also State v. Draper, 

457 N.W.2d 600, 604–05 (Iowa 1990).2 A sentence that is too lenient, that is, 

one that only requires the defendant to serve less than the one-third mandatory 

minimum, constitutes an illegal sentence. See Draper, 457 N.W.2d at 605.

Here, the term of incarceration Myers was ordered to serve was fifteen 

years, and therefore, pursuant to section 124.413, the mandatory minimum was 

five years. Thus, the court’s original sentence imposing a three-year mandatory 

minimum constituted an illegal sentence. See Draper, 457 N.W.2d at 605 (noting 

the district court is not permitted to disregard the mandates of the statute 

specifically defining mandatory minimums). An illegal sentence may be 

corrected at any time. See Bruegger, 773 N.W.2d at 871–72. Consequently, the 

 

2

Iowa Code section 124.401 (2013) has been transferred from Iowa Code section 

204.413 (1993), the code section to which Draper, 457 N.W.2d at 604-605, refers; 

however, the mandates contained in the statute remain the same. Compare Iowa Code 

§ 124.401 (2013), with id. § 204.413 (1993).
4

district court properly entered a substituted order imposing the five-year 

mandatory minimum, rather than its original three-year minimum.

Myers also claims his procedural rights were violated because the district 

court did not provide him a hearing or notice, and it did not follow the plea 

agreement. However, the plea agreement in this record has no mention of the 

mandatory minimum. In addition, Myers failed to cite any authority for his 

arguments; consequently, they are waived. See Iowa R. App. P. 6.903(2)(g)(3); 

see also Pierce v. Staley, 587 N.W.2d 484, 486 (Iowa 1998). Finally, we note, 

Myers does not claim his plea was involuntary or unintelligent. See Iowa R. 

Crim. P. 2.8(2)(b). Therefore, we affirm the district court’s sentencing and 

supplemental sentencing orders.

AFFIRMED.