Denita Manley pleaded guilty to five counts of theft by taking.1 Manley moved to withdraw her plea and to have her sentence modified, and the trial court denied both motions. In three enumerations of error, Manley challenges this ruling. Finding no error, we affirm. The relevant facts show that Manley was charged with stealing over $150,000 from the bank accounts of her ailing, recently widowed stepfather. She was scheduled for trial, but on April 4, 2006, Manley sought a continuance due to ongoing plea negotiations. Manley’s attorney indicated that his client was attempting to pay restitution to the victim and that additional time would be helpful in gathering the funds. The trial court denied the motion and set the trial for the next day. Before doing so, however, the court stated on the record that it had not accepted any plea deal and that, in the court’s opinion, the facts of the case warranted more than mere probation.
The next day, Manley apparently decided to plead guilty. At the hearing, the State set forth the factual basis for the plea. It then recommended that Manley be sentenced to “20 years to serve 3 years, with the balance on probation.” As $50,000 had already been tendered in restitution, the recommendation was that Manley would be required to pay the balance of approximately $100,000. The trial court expressly disagreed with the recommendation of the State in view of the magnitude of Manley’s crime. Rather, the trial court stated that it would sentence Manley to ten years to serve. The court then gave Manley time to discuss the matter with her attorney. Following a short recess, Manley entered a guilty plea. Before accepting the plea, the court asked Manley if she understood that “the court is not bound by any promises or sentencing recommendations” and that it could impose the maximum sentence of 50 years. Manley answered affirmatively. The trial court then accepted Manley’s guilty pleas to five of the counts and sentenced her “to 10 years to serve in custody” on the first count.2 With regard to the next count, the trial court sentenced Manley “to 10 years on probation, to run consecutive to count one.” On the remaining three counts, Manley was sentenced to “10 years on probation, all to run concurrent with count one.”
