Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia ATLANTA,____________________ December 16, 2015 The Court of Appeals hereby passes the following order: A16A0539. CEDRICK J. BRIDGES v. THE STATE.

Cedrick J. Bridges negotiated a guilty plea to two RICO charges. He later filed a pro se motion titled “Amend - Brady Motion - Discovery of Information.” In the pleading, Bridges wrote, “This motion should be treated as a motion to correct void judgment, because my guilty plea is a void judgment, because it was obtained by fraud on the court by prosecuting attorney.” The trial court denied the motion, and Bridges appeals. We, however, lack jurisdiction. “[A] petition to vacate or modify a judgment of conviction is not an appropriate remedy in a criminal case.” Harper v. State, 286 Ga. 216, 218 (1) (686 SE2d 786) (2009). Any appeal from an order denying or dismissing such a motion must be dismissed. See id. at 218 (2); Roberts v. State, 286 Ga. 532, 532 (690 SE2d 150) (2010). A direct appeal may lie from an order denying a motion to vacate or correct a void sentence, but only if the defendant raises a colorable claim that the sentence is, in fact, void. See Harper, supra at 217 n.1; Burg v. State, 297 Ga. App. 118, 119 (676 SE2d 465) (2009). “Motions to vacate a void sentence generally are limited to claims that – even assuming the existence and validity of the conviction for which the sentence was imposed – the law does not authorize that sentence, most typically because it exceeds the most severe punishment for which the applicable penal statute provides.” von Thomas v. State, 293 Ga. 569, 572 (2) (748 SE2d 446) (2013).

Accordingly, when a sentence is within the statutory range of punishment, it is not void. Jones v. State, 278 Ga. 669, 670 (604 SE2d 483) (2004).

Bridges does not argue that his sentence fell outside the permissible statutory range; thus, he has not raised a colorable void sentence claim. Accordingly, we lack jurisdiction over this appeal, which is hereby DISMISSED.

Court of Appeals of the State of Georgia 12/16/2015 Clerk’s Office, Atlanta,____________________ I certify that the above is a true extract from the minutes of the Court of Appeals of Georgia.

Witness my signature and the seal of said court hereto affixed the day and year last above written.

, Clerk.