Barnes, Presiding Judge.Orain Clifton Patterson pled guilty to voluntary manslaughter and other offenses, and the trial court sentenced him to a total of 30 years to serve. Proceeding pro se, Patterson subsequently filed “Defendant’s Motion to Modify Sentence under Provisions of OCGA 17101 (f)” (“Motion to Modify Sentence”) and “Motion to Correct Illegally Imposed Sentence by a Person in State Custody” (“Motion to Correct Sentence”). The trial court denied both motions, leading to this appeal. Patterson contends on appeal that the trial court erred in denying his motions because all of his convictions should have merged for sentencing. For the reasons discussed below, we affirm. The record reflects that on December 5, 2014, Patterson was indicted on one count of malice murder, two counts of felony murder, one count of aggravated assault, one count of possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony, and one count of interstate interference with custody. Patterson thereafter entered a negotiated guilty plea under North Carolina v. Alford, 400 U.S. 25 (91 SCt 160, 27 LE2d 162) (1970) to voluntary manslaughter as a lesserincluded offense of malice murder, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon as a lesserincluded offense of felony murder, possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony, and interstate interference with custody. The State requested and obtained entry of a nolle prosequi order on the remaining felony murder count and the aggravated assault count. The trial court entered a judgment of conviction and sentence on Patterson’s guilty plea on February 13, 2017. The trial court sentenced Patterson to 15 years to serve for voluntary manslaughter and consecutive sentences of 5 years to serve on each of the remaining counts to which Patterson pled guilty, resulting in a total sentence of 30 years to serve. On August 18, 2017, Patterson filed his pro se Motion to Modify Sentence and his pro se Motion to Correct Sentence. Although Patterson filed two separate motions, he contended in both motions that his sentence was illegal and void because the trial court should have merged all of his convictions under OCGA § 16-1-7 (a) (1)[1] and sentenced him only to 15 years to serve for voluntary manslaughter. The trial court entered orders denying both motions on September 1, 2017. This appeal followed.1. Patterson contends that the trial court erred in denying his Motion to Modify Sentence. We disagree. The General Assembly has established a specific time frame during which a trial court has jurisdiction to freely modify a criminal sentence. Pursuant to OCGA § 17-10-1 (f), a court may correct or reduce a sentence during the year after its imposition, or within 120 days after remittitur following a direct appeal, whichever is later. Once this statutory period expires, a trial court may only modify a void sentence.
