People v. Williams
Annotate this CaseWilliams pleaded guilty to unlawful delivery of a controlled substance in exchange for a sentencing cap of 25 years’ imprisonment. Defendant later moved to withdraw his plea, claiming he had been improperly admonished regarding the maximum sentence he faced. The court had stated, several times, that he faced a maximum sentence of 60 years’ imprisonment. In making the statement, the court applied 720 ILCS 570/408(a) which provides: “Any person convicted of a second or subsequent offense under this Act may be sentenced to imprisonment for a term up to twice the maximum term otherwise authorized.” Defendant had a prior felony conviction, and his enhanced Class X maximum sentence of 30 years on the unlawful delivery charge was doubled to 60. The court denied defendant’s motion; the appellate court reversed. The Illinois Supreme Court affirmed, concluding that section 408(a) is ambiguous so that it was appropriate to invoke the rule of lenity. The court reasoned that it was unable to say with certainty that the legislature intended that section 408(a) would apply only to offenses committed in violation of the Act, as defendant argued, or whether, as the state claimed, it may apply to double defendant’s enhanced Class X maximum of 30 years to 60 years.
Some case metadata and case summaries were written with the help of AI, which can produce inaccuracies. You should read the full case before relying on it for legal research purposes.
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.