Committing Class A through E felonies comes with sentencing guidelines when an offender is convicted. However, the addition of an armed criminal action conviction adds consecutive punishments to any felony conviction punishments.
For example, if a first-time offender of domestic assault, a Class B felony, is convicted, the punishment sentence would be no less than five years and no more than 15 years. The added conviction of armed criminal action, whether the offender is a first-time or multiple-time offender of armed criminal action, would bring a successive punishment. If armed criminal action was committed with unlawful possession of a firearm, an additional penalty is applicable.
What is considered armed criminal action?
Section 571.015 defines armed criminal action as an additional charge levied if an offender commits any felony under the laws of the state of Missouri with:
- Use of a dangerous instrument or deadly weapon
- The assistance of a dangerous instrument or deadly weapon
- The aid of a dangerous instrument or deadly weapon
First-time offender prison term sentencing
A first-time convicted offender of armed criminal action can expect sentencing between three and fifteen years. The convicted offender will not be eligible for parole, probation, conditional release, or any type of suspension of the sentence before three years served.
Unlawfully possessing a firearm while committing this crime adds two years to the minimum sentence, which means the sentencing will be no less than five years.
Second-time offender prison term sentencing
If someone is convicted of committing armed criminal action for the second time, that person will be sentenced to no less than five years and not more than 30 years. This conviction stipulates that eligibility for parole, probation, or any early release policy is only possible after serving a minimum of five years. If this crime was committed while unlawfully possessing a firearm, the sentence would be no less than 15 years.
Multiple time offender prison term sentencing
Multiple-time offenders, meaning three or more convictions of armed criminal action, will be sentenced to ten or more years in prison. There will be no chance of early release until ten years of the sentence have passed. The minimum sentence of ten years would be modified to 15 years if the convicted unlawfully possessed a firearm while committing the crime.
