PETER RAMOS VS STATE OF FLORIDA

S IXTH D ISTRICT COURT OF APPEAL
S TATE OF F LORIDA
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Case No. 6D2024-0171
Lower Tribunal No. 22-CF-1904
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PETER R AMOS,
Appellant,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA,
Appellee.
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Appeal from the Circuit Court for Charlotte County.
Thomas Reese, Judge.
November 14, 2025
NARDELLA, J.
Peter Ramos raises two issues on appeal, only one of which has merit. As
conceded by the State in response to this appeal, and to the Rule 3.800(b)(2) motion
Ramos filed pending appeal, Ramos’ sentence is an illegal sentence subject to
correction. Accordingly, we vacate Ramos’ sentence and remand for resentencing.
In May 2024, a jury convicted Ramos of two counts of Lewd and Lascivious
Battery on a Person 12 Years of Age or Older but Less than 16 Years of Age, both
of which are second–degree felonies and carry a maximum of fifteen years’

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incarceration. § 800.04(4)(a)(1) and (4)(b), Fla. Stat. (2024). At sentencing, the State
advised the trial court the Criminal Punishment Code Scoresheet reflected a point
total of 305.4, with a lowest permissible sentence of 208.05 months prison, which
equates to 17.3375 years. Despite this information, the trial court imposed a sentence
greater than both the statutory maximum and lowest permissible sentence when it
sentenced Ramos to 25–years imprisonment with the Department of Corrections,
followed by 5 years sex offender probation, on each count to run concurrently. This
was error.
Section 	921.0024(2), 	Florida 	Statutes 	(2024), 	provides 	direction 	for 	a
sentencing 	court’s 	imposition 	of 	the 	lowest 	permissible 	sentence. 	Section
921.0024(2) states:
The lowest permissible sentence is the minimum sentence that
may be imposed by the trial court, absent a valid reason for departure.
The lowest permissible sentence is any nonstate prison sanction in
which the total sentence points equals or is less than 44 points, unless
the court determines within its discretion that a prison sentence, which
may be up to the statutory maximums for the offenses committed, is
appropriate. When the total sentence points exceeds 44 points, the
lowest permissible sentence in prison months shall be calculated by
subtracting 28 points from the total sentence points and decreasing the
remaining total by 25 percent. The total sentence points shall be
calculated only as a means of determining the lowest permissible
sentence. The permissible range for sentencing shall be the lowest
permissible sentence up to and including the statutory maximum, as
defined in s. 775.082, for the primary offense and any additional
offenses before the court for sentencing. The sentencing court may
impose such sentences concurrently or consecutively. However, any
sentence to state prison must exceed 1 year. If the lowest permissible
sentence under the code exceeds the statutory maximum sentence as

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provided in s. 775.082, the sentence required by the code must be
imposed.
The Florida Supreme Court’s decision in State v. Gabriel, 314 So. 3d 1243
(Fla. 2021), guides our decision here. In Gabriel, the supreme court addressed the
circumstance in which the lowest permissible sentence calculated on the defendant’s
scoresheet exceeded the statutory maximum sentence for two of the three offenses
for which the defendant was convicted. Id. at 1246–47. The supreme court discussed
section 921.0024(2)’s requirement that “[t]he permissible range for sentencing shall
be the lowest permissible sentence up to and including the statutory maximum” and
the exception that “[i]f the lowest permissible sentence under the code exceeds the
statutory maximum sentence as provided in s. 775.082, the sentence required by the
code must be imposed.” Id. at 1247–48. The Florida Supreme Court found the trial
court did not err when it imposed the lowest permissible sentence for each of the
offenses although the lowest permissible sentence exceeded the statutory maximum
under section 775.082, Florida Statutes. Id. at 1248–49. It further held that because
“each individual offense has its own maximum sentence” under section 775.082,
when the lowest permissible sentence exceeds the statutory maximum, the lowest
permissible sentence becomes the maximum. Id. at 1249–50 (quoting Moore v.
State, 882 So. 2d 977, 985 (Fla. 2004)). Thus, in this circumstance, the lowest
permissible sentence is both the minimum sentence and the maximum sentence the
trial court may impose for each individual offense. Id. at 1249.

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Here, Ramos’ lowest permissible sentence under the Criminal Punishment
Code guidelines exceeds the statutory maximum of fifteen years for a second–degree
felony. Thus, the lowest permissible sentence of 17.3375 years is both the minimum
and maximum sentencing exposure on each count. Gabriel, 314 So. 3d at 1249;
Butler v. State, 838 So. 2d 554, 556 (Fla. 2003) (holding that when the statutory
maximum sentence is exceeded by the lowest permissible sentence under the CPC,
the lowest permissible sentence under the CPC becomes the maximum sentence the
court can impose). Accordingly, we vacate Ramos’ sentence and remand for
resentencing.
AFFIRMED in part; REVERSED in part; and REMANDED for resentencing.
STARGEL and MIZE, JJ., concur.
Blair Allen, Public Defender, and Andrea M. Norgard, Assistant Public Defender,
Bartow, for Appellant.
James 	Uthmeier, 	Attorney 	General, 	Tallahassee, 	and 	Alicia 	M. 	Winterkorn,
Assistant Attorney General, Tampa, for Appellee.
NOT FINAL UNTIL TIME EXPIRES TO FILE MOTION FOR REHEARING
AND DISPOSITION THEREOF IF TIMELY FILED