Opinion
2012-UP-062
02-08-2012
The State, Respondent, v. Sheldon Oakman, Jr., Appellant.
Julie Martino Thames, of Columbia, for Appellant. Attorney General Alan Wilson, Chief Deputy Attorney General John W. McIntosh, Assistant Deputy Attorney General Salley W. Elliott, and Assistant Attorney General William M. Blitch, Jr., all of Columbia; and Solicitor J. Strom Thurmond, Jr., of Aiken, for Respondent.
UNPUBLISHED OPINION
Submitted January 3, 2012.
Appeal From Aiken County Doyet A. Early, III, Circuit Court Judge.
Julie Martino Thames, of Columbia, for Appellant.
Attorney General Alan Wilson, Chief Deputy Attorney General John W. McIntosh, Assistant Deputy Attorney General Salley W. Elliott, and Assistant Attorney General William M. Blitch, Jr., all of Columbia; and Solicitor J. Strom Thurmond, Jr., of Aiken, for Respondent.
PER CURIAM
Sheldon Oakman Jr. appeals his thirty year sentence for kidnapping, arguing the circuit court abused its discretion because similarly situated co-defendants were sentenced to seventeen years' imprisonment. We affirm pursuant to Rule 220(b)(1), SCACR, and the following authorities: State v. Follin, 352 S.C. 235, 257, 573 S.E.2d 812, 824 (Ct. App. 2002) ("[W]hen the record clearly reflects an appropriate basis for a disparate sentence, the [circuit court] may impose a different sentence on a co-defendant in a criminal trial."); Brooks v. State, 325 S.C. 269, 271-72, 481 S.E.2d 712, 713 (1997) ("A [circuit court] is allowed broad discretion in sentencing within statutory limits. A sentence is not excessive if it is within statutory limitations and there are no facts supporting an allegation of prejudice against a defendant." (citations omitted)); S.C. Code Ann. § 16-3-910 (2003) ("Whoever shall unlawfully seize, confine, inveigle, decoy, kidnap, abduct or carry away any other person by any means whatsoever without authority of law... is guilty of a felony and, upon conviction, must be imprisoned for a period not to exceed thirty years....").
We decide this case without oral argument pursuant to Rule 215, SCACR.
AFFIRMED.
HUFF, PIEPER, and LOCKEMY, JJ., concur.