what is concurrent sentencing

Concurrent sentencing is a type of sentence that judges can give to defendants who are convicted of more than one crime. Instead of serving each sentence one after another, a concurrent sentence allows the defendant to serve all of their sentences at the same time, where the longest period of time is controlling. For example, if a defendant is convicted of two charges and the judge orders that the sentences run concurrently, the defendants sentence would be the length of the longest sentence, and they would serve the two sentences simultaneously. In contrast, consecutive sentencing means that the defendant serves each sentence one after the other. The decision of whether to give concurrent or consecutive sentences is often at the discretion of the judge.