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What is 10-20-life in Florida?

On Behalf of | Nov 7, 2017 | Criminal Law

In 1999, led by then Gov. Jeb Bush, the 10-20-Life statute was passed. It established bright line minimum mandatory sentences for defendants who used a firearm while committing a crime. Between July 1, 1999 and July 1, 2016, if you had a firearm on your person during a felony, you received 10 years; if you fired it, you received 20 years. If someone died during the commission of a felony and a firearm was used, the defendant automatically received a life sentence. Minimum mandatory sentences remove any discretion that a Judge usually has when a defendant is sentenced. In 2016, Gov. Rick Scott removed from the minimum mandatory sentence from the crime of aggravated assault. The previous statute included defendants who fired warning shots, or those that were not intended to cause any harm but to scare away a possible attacker.

  • As it stands today, if you carry a firearm on your person in the commission of the listed felonies, you automatically receive at least 10 years in jail:

a.     Murder;
b. Sexual battery;
c. Robbery;
d. Burglary;
e. Arson;
f. Aggravated battery;
g. Kidnapping;
h. Escape;
i. Aircraft piracy;
j. Aggravated child abuse;
k. Aggravated abuse of an elderly person or disabled adult;
l. Unlawful throwing, placing, or discharging of a destructive device or bomb;
m. Carjacking;
n. Home-invasion robbery;
o. Aggravated stalking;
p. Trafficking in cannabis, trafficking in cocaine, capital importation of cocaine, trafficking in illegal drugs, capital importation of illegal drugs, trafficking in phencyclidine, capital importation of phencyclidine, trafficking in methaqualone, capital importation of methaqualone, trafficking in amphetamine, capital importation of amphetamine, trafficking in flunitrazepam, trafficking in gamma-hydroxybutyric acid (GHB), trafficking in 1,4-Butanediol, trafficking in Phenethylamines, or other violation of s. 893.135(1); or
q. Possession of a firearm by a felon (Only 3 years if a first possession, 10 years if more)
(If burglary of a conveyance, 3 years minimum if a firearm is possessed.)

  • If you caused great bodily harm or killed someone while committing one of the crimes above, you will serve no less than 25 years.
  • The number of years is increased if a semi-automatic firearm is used. If a defendant possesses a semi-automatic firearm, it is an automatic minimum of 15 years. If one is fired, 20 years. If one kills a person, 25 years minimum.

https://www.flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2016/0228/?Tab=BillText
https://www.leg.state.fl.us/statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&Search_String=&URL=0700-0799/0775/Sections/0775.087.html
https://www.ferryandferry.com/practice-areas/criminal-defense/