Generally, the Judge has discretion to order that jail sentences for multiple crimes arising from the same criminal endeavor be served consecutively or concurrently. It's an additional tool that the judge has to tailor the punishment. If he feels the crimes have low individual maximums then he may rule the sentences be served consecutively - ie One at a time, in series. Or, as in this case, the judge may feel that the sentences can be served concurrently (all at the same time, in parallel). Or it could be a mix. Example, if a man points a gun at two people and is convicted of two counts of assault and one count of carrying a concealed weapon... His sentence might be 2 years for each assault count and 6 months for the concealed weapons charge. He may order the assault counts to be served concurrently and the weapons charge to be consecutive, meaning an effect 2.5 years in jail. (Of course the prosecutor could add a gun specification of 1-3 years too, but the judge would account for that also) I have seen one case where a man was sentenced to 3 years for felony theft in one Ohio county, and then was sentenced to 3 years for felony theft in another county about a month later. Both theft crimes happened the same day and the second judge ordered that HIS 3 years be served concurrently with the first county's sentence. I guess he thought that 6 years was too much for a $2500 theft. There are limits to the judge's discretion... A Municipal Court Judge can only order a maximum of 6 months for a single crime (M1) and (I think) 18 months for multiple crimes heard together. If I vandalize 5 cars (M3, 60 days max each count) then the judge cannot order me to be jailed for 2.5 years, even though 5x6mo=2.5yr