| THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE | ) | Appeal from the Circuit Court |
| OF ILLINOIS, | ) | of Winnebago County. |
| ) | ||
| Plaintiff-Appellee, | ) | |
| ) | ||
| v. | ) | No. 97--CF--0125 |
| ) | ||
| TERRY T. ROBERTS, | ) | Honorable |
| ) | K. Craig Peterson, | |
| Defendant-Appellant. | ) | Judge, Presiding. |
JUSTICE BOWMAN delivered the opinion of the court:
After a jury trial, defendant, Terry T. Roberts, was foundguilty of burglary (720 ILCS 5/19--1(a) (West 1996)) and sentencedas a Class X offender to 20 years' imprisonment. He was tried andsentenced in absentia. Defendant sought a new sentencing hearingpursuant to section 115--4.1(e) of the Code of Criminal Procedureof 1963 (Code of Criminal Procedure) (725 ILCS 5/115--4.1(e) (West2000)), and the trial court denied the motion. On appeal,defendant argues that the statute the trial court relied upon tosentence him as a Class X offender, section 5--5--3(c)(8) of theUnified Code of Corrections (Code) (730 ILCS 5/5--5--3(c)(8) (West1996)), violates the proportionate penalties clause of the IllinoisConstitution (Ill. Const. 1970, art. I,