G.R. No. 1804, March 20, 1905
THE UNITED STATES, plaintiff-appellee, vs. GEORGE HERRMAN, defendant-appellant.

FACTS:
George Herrman, a captain of the Constabulary, was convicted by the Court of First Instance of Misamis for the crime of robbery. He was found guilty of stealing the steamboat “Victoria,” owned by Gutierrez Hermanos and valued at 10,000 pesos. The trial court sentenced him to five years of presidio correccional, with the corresponding accessory penalties and costs. The evidence established that Herrman chartered the steamboat under the false pretense that it was for Government service, when his actual intention was to seize the vessel by force when the opportunity arose.

ISSUE:
Whether the trial court erred in not considering the false and fraudulent pretenses employed by the accused as an aggravating circumstance in the imposition of the penalty.

RULING:
Yes. The Supreme Court affirmed the conviction but found that the trial court committed an error in the application of the penalty. The false and fraudulent pretext used by Herrman to charter the steamboatclaiming it was for Government serviceconstituted an aggravating circumstance under the Penal Code. This circumstance should have been considered to impose the penalty in its maximum degree. Consequently, the Supreme Court modified the sentence. The penalty was increased to eight years of presidio mayor, with the accessory penalties prescribed in Article 57 of the Penal Code, and the costs of both instances.