By WIBW TV
TOPEKA, Kan. (WIBW) - The Kansas supreme court has denied an Ogden woman’s appeal on a drug sentencing case from 2017.
Anita Jo Albano was arrested by Riley County police in August of 2017 on two counts of distributing a controlled substance within 1000 feet of a school.
She was sentenced on both counts in Riley County District Court and was incarcerated in 2019.
In her appeal, Albano argued that Kansas sentencing guidelines violate the State Constitution because they allow a judge and not a jury to consider prior convictions in sentencing.
In a ruling released Friday morning, the Kansas Supreme court opinion rejected that argument saying the Kansas Constitution, adopted in 1859, does not guarantee defendants the right to have a jury determine sentencing, rather than a Judge.
Albano is serving her sentence in the Topeka Correctional facility, with the earliest possible release date in April of 2026.