WASHINGTON (AP) - The U.S. Supreme Court has rejected an appeal from an Alabama man who was sentenced to five years in prison when a judge wrongly thought the law required him to serve time.
U.S. District Judge William Steele didn't want to order Patrick Lett, a 17-year Army veteran with two tours in Iraq, to prison after the former soldier pleaded guilty to cocaine possession. But the judge thought the law required prison time.
When Steele later learned it didn't, he tried to change his sentence.
Prosecutors appealed and the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled the judge could not undo his sentence.
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday rejected Lett's appeal of that decision.
A new sentencing hearing is set for Oct. 24. |