§ 70.70 Sentence of imprisonment for felony drug offender other than a\n class A felony.\n 1. For the purposes of this section, the following terms shall mean:\n (a) "Felony drug offender" means a defendant who stands convicted of\nany felony, defined in article two hundred twenty or two hundred\ntwenty-two of this chapter other than a class A felony.\n (b) "Second felony drug offender" means a second felony offender as\nthat term is defined in subdivision one of section 70.06 of this\narticle, who stands convicted of any felony, defined in article two\nhundred twenty or two hundred twenty-two of this chapter other than a\nclass A felony.\n (c) "Violent felony" shall have the same meaning as that term is\ndefined in subdivision one of section 70.02 of this article.\n 2. Except as provided in subdivision three or four of this section, a\nsentence of imprisonment for a felony drug offender shall be a\ndeterminate sentence as provided in paragraph (a) of this subdivision.\n (a) Term of determinate sentence. Except as provided in paragraph (b)\nor (c) of this subdivision, the court shall impose a determinate term of\nimprisonment upon a felony drug offender which shall be imposed by the\ncourt in whole or half years, which shall include as a part thereof a\nperiod of post-release supervision in accordance with section 70.45 of\nthis article. The terms of imprisonment authorized for such determinate\nsentences are as follows:\n (i) for a class B felony, the term shall be at least one year and\nshall not exceed nine years, except that for the class B felony of\ncriminal sale of a controlled substance in or near school grounds as\ndefined in subdivision two of section 220.44 of this chapter or on a\nschool bus as defined in subdivision seventeen of section 220.00 of this\nchapter or criminal sale of a controlled substance to a child as defined\nin section 220.48 of this chapter, the term shall be at least two years\nand shall not exceed nine years;\n (ii) for a class C felony, the term shall be at least one year and\nshall not exceed five and one-half years;\n (iii) for a class D felony, the term shall be at least one year and\nshall not exceed two and one-half years; and\n (iv) for a class E felony, the term shall be at least one year and\nshall not exceed one and one-half years.\n (b) Probation. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the court\nmay sentence a defendant convicted of a class B, class C, class D or\nclass E felony offense defined in article two hundred twenty or two\nhundred twenty-two of this chapter to probation in accordance with the\nprovisions of sections 60.04 and 65.00 of this chapter.\n (c) Alternative definite sentence for class B, class C, class D, and\nclass E felonies. If the court, having regard to the nature and\ncircumstances of the crime and to the history and character of the\ndefendant, is of the opinion that a sentence of imprisonment is\nnecessary but that it would be unduly harsh to impose a determinate\nsentence upon a person convicted of a class C, class D or class E felony\noffense defined in article two hundred twenty or two hundred twenty-two\nof this chapter, or a class B felony defined in article two hundred\ntwenty of this chapter, other than the class B felony defined in section\n220.48 of this chapter, as added by a chapter of the laws of two\nthousand nine the court may impose a definite sentence of imprisonment\nand fix a term of one year or less.\n (d) The court may direct that a determinate sentence imposed on a\ndefendant convicted of a class B felony, other than the class B felony\ndefined in section 220.48 of this chapter, pursuant to this subdivision\nbe executed as a sentence of parole supervision in accordance with\nsection 410.91 of the criminal procedure law.\n 3. Sentence of imprisonment for second felony drug offender.\n (a) Applicability. This subdivision shall apply to a second felony\ndrug offender whose prior felony conviction was not a violent felony.\n (b) Except as provided in paragraphs (c), (d) and (e) of this\nsubdivision, when the court has found pursuant to the provisions of\nsection 400.21 of the criminal procedure law that a defendant is a\nsecond felony drug offender who stands convicted of a class B, class C,\nclass D or class E felony offense defined in article two hundred twenty\nor two hundred twenty-two of this chapter the court shall impose a\ndeterminate sentence of imprisonment. Such determinate sentence shall\ninclude as a part thereof a period of post-release supervision in\naccordance with section 70.45 of this article. The terms of such\ndeterminate sentence shall be imposed by the court in whole or half\nyears as follows:\n (i) for a class B felony, the term shall be at least two years and\nshall not exceed twelve years;\n (ii) for a class C felony, the term shall be at least one and one-half\nyears and shall not exceed eight years;\n (iii) for a class D felony, the term shall be at least one and\none-half years and shall not exceed four years; and\n (iv) for a class E felony, the term shall be at least one and one-half\nyears and shall not exceed two years.\n (c) Probation. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the court\nmay sentence a second felony drug offender convicted of a class B felony\nto lifetime probation in accordance with the provisions of section 65.00\nof this chapter and may sentence a second felony drug offender convicted\nof a class C, class D or class E felony to probation in accordance with\nthe provisions of section 65.00 of this chapter.\n (d) Sentence of parole supervision. In the case of a person sentenced\nfor a specified offense or offenses as defined in subdivision five of\nsection 410.91 of the criminal procedure law, who stands convicted of no\nother felony offense, who has not previously been convicted of either a\nviolent felony offense as defined in section 70.02 of this article, a\nclass A felony offense or a class B felony offense, and is not under the\njurisdiction of or awaiting delivery to the department of corrections\nand community supervision, the court may direct that a determinate\nsentence imposed pursuant to this subdivision shall be executed as a\nparole supervision sentence as defined in and pursuant to the procedures\nprescribed in section 410.91 of the criminal procedure law.\n (e) Alternate definite sentence for class C, class D and class E\nfelonies. If the court, having regard to the nature and circumstances of\nthe crime and to the history and character of the defendant, is of the\nopinion that a sentence of imprisonment is necessary but that it would\nbe unduly harsh to impose a determinate sentence upon a person convicted\nof a class C, class D or class E felony offense defined in article two\nhundred twenty or two hundred twenty-two of this chapter, the court may\nimpose a definite sentence of imprisonment and fix a term of one year or\nless.\n 4. Sentence of imprisonment for second felony drug offender previously\nconvicted of a violent felony.\n (a) Applicability. This subdivision shall apply to a second felony\ndrug offender whose prior felony conviction was a violent felony.\n (b) Authorized sentence. When the court has found pursuant to the\nprovisions of section 400.21 of the criminal procedure law that a\ndefendant is a second felony drug offender whose prior felony conviction\nwas a violent felony, who stands convicted of a class B, class C, class\nD or class E felony offense defined in article two hundred twenty or two\nhundred twenty-two of this chapter, the court shall impose a determinate\nsentence of imprisonment. Such determinate sentence shall include as a\npart thereof a period of post-release supervision in accordance with\nsection 70.45 of this article. The terms of such determinate sentence\nshall be imposed by the court in whole or half years as follows:\n (i) for a class B felony, the term shall be at least six years and\nshall not exceed fifteen years;\n (ii) for a class C felony, the term shall be at least three and\none-half years and shall not exceed nine years;\n (iii) for a class D felony, the term shall be at least two and\none-half years and shall not exceed four and one-half years; and\n (iv) for a class E felony, the term shall be at least two years and\nshall not exceed two and one-half years.\n
N.Y. Penal Law § 70.70
Sentence of imprisonment for felony drug offender other than a class A felony
Applied in 28 court decisions — leading case People v. Grimes (2021)
Most recently applied in People v. Bryant (September 2023)
2021-04-02
How often courts cite this section
Court decisions citing this, by year. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.
Official source: NYS Open Legislation (New York State Senate). Reproduced from public-domain New York statutes; confirm against the official source for the current text. Not legal advice.