Title: DiStefano v. State
Citation: N/A
Docket Number: 294, 2006
State: Delaware
Issuer: Delaware Supreme Court
Date: November 17, 2006

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF DELAWARE 
 
DAVID R. DiSTEFANO,  
 
Defendant Below- 
Appellant, 
 
v. 
 
STATE OF DELAWARE, 
 
Plaintiff Below- 
Appellee. 
§ 
§  No. 294, 2006 
§ 
§ 
§  Court Below─Superior Court 
§  of the State of Delaware 
§  in and for New Castle County 
§  Cr. ID No. 92003282DI 
§ 
§ 
§ 
 
 
 
 
 
Submitted: October 27, 2006 
 
 
 
 
   Decided: November 17, 2006 
 
Before HOLLAND, BERGER and JACOBS, Justices 
 
 
 
 
 
 
O R D E R  
 
 
This 17th day of November 2006, upon consideration of the briefs on 
appeal and the record below, it appears to the Court that: 
 
(1) 
The defendant-appellant, David R. DiStefano, filed an appeal 
from the Superior Court’s May 17, 2006 order denying his motion for credit 
for Level IV time served.  We find no merit to the appeal.  Accordingly, we 
AFFIRM. 
 
(2) 
In December 1992, DiStefano pleaded guilty to Unlawful 
Sexual Penetration in the Second Degree and Unlawful Sexual Contact in 
the First Degree.  He was sentenced to a total of 11 years incarceration at 
Level V, to be suspended after 8 years for 3 years of Level III probation.  In 
 
2
March 2004, May 2005 and December 2005, DiStefano was found to be in 
violation of probation (“VOP”).  The record reflects that DiStefano was 
erroneously re-sentenced to 3 years of Level V incarceration after his second 
VOP, but that the Superior Court corrected that error by sentencing him to 
only 2 years at Level V after his third VOP, thereby correctly crediting him 
with the amount of Level V time he previously had served.  After 
unsuccessfully moving for sentence modification in March 2006, DiStefano 
filed a motion for credit for Level IV time served.   
 
(3) 
In this appeal, DiStefano claims that Level IV time is 
equivalent in many ways to Level V time and, for that reason, he, and others 
like him, should be given credit for all Level IV, as well as Level V, time 
previously served when probation is revoked and a Level V sentence is re-
imposed.  Specifically, DiStefano argues that he is entitled to credit for 5 
months of Level IV time he previously served. 
 
(4) 
Upon a finding of a VOP, the Superior Court is authorized to 
revoke the defendant’s probation and re-impose the periods of incarceration 
that were suspended in his prior sentence.1  In so doing, the Superior Court 
is required to credit the defendant with all Level V time previously served, 
                                                 
1 Del. Code Ann. tit. 11, § 4334(c). 
 
3
including time spent at the VOP Center following a probation violation.2  
Although Level IV punishment is considered “quasi-incarceration” in the 
Truth in Sentencing Benchbook and is subject to greater custodial oversight 
than Levels I through III, this Court consistently has held that time spent at 
Level IV will not be credited against a re-imposed Level V sentence.3 
 
(5) 
Moreover, while the record reflects that DiStefano was 
erroneously sentenced to 3 years at Level V following his second VOP, the 
Superior Court corrected that error when it sentenced him to only 2 years at 
Level V following his third VOP.  DiStefano has, thus, provided no factual 
basis for his argument that he is entitled to credit for an additional 5 months 
against his Level V sentence. 
 
NOW, THEREFORE, IT IS ORDERED that the judgment of the 
Superior Court is AFFIRMED. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
BY THE COURT: 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
/s/ Carolyn Berger  
 
    
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Justice 
 
    
 
 
                                                 
2 Del. Code Ann. tit. 11, § 3901(c); Gamble v. State, 728 A.2d 1171, 1172 (Del. 1999). 
3 Gamble v. State, 728 A.2d at 1172.