James G. Poggas v. State Alaska

COATS, Judge. OPINION James Poggas was convicted of five counts of selling marijuana under former AS 17.12.010. He was sentenced to five concurrent three-year sentences by Judge Justin Ripley. Poggas appealed his convictions and sentences to this court. We have affirmed Poggas' convictions in an unpublished opinion. Poggas v. State, MO&J No. 300 (Alaska App. February 25 1983). Since Poggas' sentence appeal raised issues similar to the issues raised in the sentence appeal filed by Douglas Winfield, we have combined these two sentence appeals for consideration. Poggas was convicted of selling two ounces of marijuana for $130 on July 16, 1981, one pound for $600 on August 27, 1981, two pounds for $1,200 on August 28, 1981, one-half pound for $350 on September 10, 1981 and two pounds for $1,400 on September 18, 1981. All the sales were to the same undercover police officer. Poggas is fifty-five years old. He has some previous criminal convictions. In 1953 he was convicted of robbery and assault with a dangerous weapon and was sentenced to serve three years in jail. In 1962 he paid a fine for breach of the peace. In 1966 he paid a small fine for a traffic offense. These convictions are entitled to little weight because of their remoteness in time of their non-serious nature.