LYONS v. STATE (2020)

Appellant, Johnnie L. Lyons, Jr., appeals his conviction and sentence for possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. We affirm the conviction without further comment. As for Appellant’s sentence, he concedes that his arguments have previously been rejected. See Tillman v. State, 609 So. 2d 1295, 1298 (Fla. 1992) (rejecting the argument that a habitual felony offender (“HFO”) sentence violates the constitutional protection against double jeopardy and noting that an HFO sentence does not create a new substantive offense, but merely prescribes a longer sentence for the subsequent offenses which triggers the operation of the HFO statute); see also Dinkens v. State, 976 So. 2d 660, 662 (Fla. 1st DCA 2008) (explaining that the argument that the findings in support of an HFO designation must be made by a jury has been repeatedly rejected by Florida courts and stating that “the habitual felony offender statute is based solely on prior convictions and therefore does not require a jury determination” pursuant to Apprendi v. New Jersey, 530 U.S. 466, 120 S.Ct. 2348, 147 L.Ed.2d 435 (2000)). As such, we affirm Appellant’s sentence as well.

Affirmed.

Per Curiam.

Lewis, Rowe, and Jay, JJ., concur.