State of Tennessee v. Brian Keith Gilmer

Defendant, Brian Keith Gilmer, pursuant to a negotiated plea agreement, pled guilty to four counts of rape, Class B felonies, and five counts of rape of a child, Class A felonies, in Case No. 6975 in the Circuit Court of Jefferson County. On the same date, he pled guilty to five counts of rape, Class B felonies, in Case No. 8161 in the Circuit Court of Sevier County. The victim in all counts, in both counties, was Defendant's stepdaughter. Sentencing was to be determined by the trial court (which was the same for both counties), but the negotiated plea agreement was structured such that the total effective sentence would not be less than 15 years or more than 50 years. Defendant also pled guilty to other criminal offenses as part of the plea agreement, but these are not relevant to this appeal. Although Defendant filed a notice of appeal indicating that he was appealing the sentences imposed in both the Jefferson and Sevier County cases, in effect, this appeal challenges only the length of sentences of the Class A felonies in the Jefferson County case, and the fact that one Class A felony was ordered to be served consecutively to the other sentences. We affirm the judgments of the trial court.