THIS OPINION HAS NO PRECEDENTIAL VALUE.  IT SHOULD NOT BE CITED OR RELIED ON AS PRECEDENT IN ANY PROCEEDING EXCEPT AS PROVIDED BY RULE 239(d)(2), SCACR.

THE STATE OF SOUTH CAROLINA
In The Court of Appeals

The State, Respondent,

v.

Furman Benjamin, Appellant.

Appeal From Florence County
John M. Milling, Circuit Court Judge

Unpublished Opinion No. 2008-UP-569
Submitted October 1, 2008 – Filed October 13, 2008

VACATED AND REMANDED

Attorney General Henry Dargan McMaster, Chief Deputy Attorney General John W. McIntosh, Assistant Deputy Attorney General Salley W. Elliott, Senior Assistant Attorney General Norman Mark Rapoport, all of Columbia; Solicitor E.L. Clements, III, of Florence, for Appellant.

Appellate Defender Eleanor Duffy Cleary, of Columbia, for Respondent.

PER CURIAM:  Furman Benjamin was indicted for attempted armed robbery, assault with intent to kill, and possession of a weapon during the commission of a violent crime.  Following a jury trial, he was convicted of the attempted armed robbery and weapon possession charges, and was acquitted of the assault with intent to kill charge.  The State appeals from the trial judge’s sentencing of Benjamin as a youthful offender for the attempted armed robbery charge.  We vacate and remand.

Under the Youthful Offender Act, a youthful offender is defined in pertinent part as an offender who is:

seventeen but less than twenty-five years of age at the time of conviction for an offense that is not a violent crime, as defined in Section 16-1-60, and that is a misdemeanor, a Class D, Class E, or Class F felony, or a felony which provides for a maximum term of imprisonment of fifteen years or less.

S.C. Code Ann. § 24-19-10(d)(ii) (2007) (emphasis added).  Under section 16-1-60, attempted armed robbery is included within the statutorily defined violent crimes.  S.C. Code Ann. § 16-1-60 (Supp. 2007).  Accordingly, Benjamin does not qualify for a youthful offender sentence.  Benjamin’s sentence for attempted armed robbery is therefore vacated, and the matter is remanded for re-sentencing.

VACATED AND REMANDED.

HEARN, C.J., HUFF and GEATHERS, JJ., concur.