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Shawn Lamont Doss pleaded guilty to possession of more than five kilograms of marijuana in November of 2008.
Prosecutors agreed to a 20-year sentence. When Doss failed to show up at his sentencing hearing, the judge handed down an enhanced sentence of 50 years in prison because Doss had prior drug convictions.
In his appeal, Doss claimed the judge should have stuck with the plea deal or let him withdraw the guilty plea and go to trial.
He also contended the court was wrong to allow the indictment to be amended to list him as a previous offender without notifying him.