State v. Oakman

THIS OPINION HAS NO PRECEDENTIAL
VALUE.  IT SHOULD NOT BE CITED OR RELIED ON AS PRECEDENT IN ANY PROCEEDING
EXCEPT AS PROVIDED BY RULE 268(d)(2), SCACR. 

THE STATE OF SOUTH CAROLINA

In The Court of Appeals

The State, Respondent,

v.

Sheldon Oakman,
Jr., Appellant.

Appeal From Aiken County

Doyet A. Early, III, Circuit Court Judge

Unpublished Opinion No. 2012-UP-062  

Submitted January 3, 2012 – Filed February
8, 2012

AFFIRMED

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[1] 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 . . . .").

AFFIRMED.

HUFF, PIEPER,
and LOCKEMY, JJ., concur.

[1] We decide this case without oral argument pursuant to
Rule 215, SCACR.