JUDY JOBY LOPEZ
VS.
PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES
G.R. NO. 166810, JUNE 26, 2008
The Indeterminate Sentence Law provides that if an offense is punished by the Revised Penal Code or its amendments, the court shall sentence the accused to an indeterminate penalty, the maximum term of which shall be that which, in view of the attending circumstances, can be properly imposed under the rules of the Revised Penal Code, while the minimum term of which shall be within the range of the penalty next lower to that prescribed by the Code for the offense.
Under Article 315, as amended by P.D. No. 818, the penalty of reclusion temporal is imposed if the amount defraud is over P12, 000.00 but does not exceed P22, 000.00. The amount involved in this case is within the above-mentioned range. Applying the Indeterminate Sentence Law, the maximum imposable penalty is reclusion temporal while the minimum term should be within the range of the penalty next lower to that prescribed by the Code for the offense, which is prision mayor. Thus, the CA correctly affirmed the penalty imposed by the trial court which is six (6) years and one (1) day of prision mayor as minimum to twelve years (12) and one (1) day of reclusion temporal as maximum.
