If a defendant receives concurrent sentences of 10 years for charge A and 20 years for charge B, what is the total sentence served?

If a defendant receives concurrent sentences of 10 years for charge A and 20 years for charge B, what is the total sentence served?

• A. 10 years
• B. 20 years, defer to the longer sentence
• C. 30 years
• D. 40 years

Answer: (B)

Concurrent sentencing means multiple sentences run at the same time, so you don’t add the lengths together. You serve the longer term because both sentences overlap in time. Therefore, with 10-year and 20-year concurrent sentences, the total time served is 20 years. If the sentences were consecutive, you would add them to 30 years instead.

Concurrent sentencing means multiple sentences run at the same time, so you don’t add the lengths together. You serve the longer term because both sentences overlap in time. Therefore, with 10-year and 20-year concurrent sentences, the total time served is 20 years. If the sentences were consecutive, you would add them to 30 years instead.