Like misdemeanor sentencing, felonies in North Carolina are sentenced according to structured sentencing, which bases your punishment on a grid that measures the severity of the crime against your criminal history. If you rank high in both those categories, your sentence will be much worse than if you rank low in those categories.
Unlike misdemeanor sentencing, the grid is much larger and more complex; the points that create your punishment record level are calculated differently; and the sentences fall into one of three ranges depending on the existence of aggravating or mitigating factors.
The Grid
The felony sentencing grid is found in North Carolina General Statute section 15A-1340.17(e1). It looks like this:
I II III IV V VI
0-1 Pt 2-5 Pts 6-9 Pts 10-13 Pts 14-17 Pts 18+ Pts
A Life Imprisonment With Parole or Without Parole, or Death, as Established by Statute
A A A A A A DISPOSITION
240-300 276-345 317-397 365-456 Life Imprisonment Aggravated
Without Parole
B1 192-240 221-276 254-317 292-365 336-420 386-483 PRESUMPTIVE
144-192 166-221 190-254 219-292 252-336 290-386 Mitigated
A A A A A A DISPOSITION
157-196 180-225 207-258 238-297 273-342 314-393 Aggravated
B2 125-157 144-180 165-207 190-238 219-273 251-314 PRESUMPTIVE
94-125 108-144 124-165 143-190 164-219 189-251 Mitigated
A A A A A A DISPOSITION
73-92 83-104 96-120 110-138 127-159 146-182 Aggravated
C 58-73 67-83 77-96 88-110 101-127 117-146 PRESUMPTIVE
44-58 50-67 58-77 66-88 76-101 87-117 Mitigated
A A A A A A DISPOSITION
64-80 73-92 84-105 97-121 111-139 128-160 Aggravated
D 51-64 59-73 67-84 78-97 89-111 103-128 PRESUMPTIVE
38-51 44-59 51-67 58-78 67-89 77-103 Mitigated
I/A I/A A A A A DISPOSITION
25-31 29-36 33-41 38-48 44-55 50-63 Aggravated
E 20-25 23-29 26-33 30-38 35-44 40-50 PRESUMPTIVE
15-20 17-23 20-26 23-30 26-35 30-40 Mitigated
I/A I/A I/A A A A DISPOSITION
16-20 19-23 21-27 25-31 28-36 33-41 Aggravated
F 13-16 15-19 17-21 20-25 23-28 26-33 PRESUMPTIVE
10-13 11-15 13-17 15-20 17-23 20-26 Mitigated
I/A I/A I/A I/A A A DISPOSITION
13-16 14-18 17-21 19-24 22-27 25-31 Aggravated
G 10-13 12-14 13-17 15-19 17-22 20-25 PRESUMPTIVE
8-10 9-12 10-13 11-15 13-17 15-20 Mitigated
C/I/A I/A I/A I/A I/A A DISPOSITION
6-8 8-10 10-12 11-14 15-19 20-25 Aggravated
H 5-6 6-8 8-10 9-11 12-15 16-20 PRESUMPTIVE
4-5 4-6 6-8 7-9 9-12 12-16 Mitigated
C C/I I I/A I/A I/A DISPOSITION
6-8 6-8 6-8 8-10 9-11 10-12 Aggravated
I 4-6 4-6 5-6 6-8 7-9 8-10 PRESUMPTIVE
3-4 3-4 4-5 4-6 5-7 6-8 Mitigated
The alphabetically ranked letters in the column on the left designate the offense class. Each felony in North Carolina falls into one of these offense classes in the same way that each misdemeanor fell into a numerically labelled offense class. For example, murder is Class A felony, and comes with the highest possible punishment, while possessing with the intent to sell or distribute marijuana is a Class I, punishable by the lowest possible punishment. The letters C/I/Aabove the numbers in each section, like in misdemeanor sentencing, designate the type of punishment the judge is able to give you if you fall into that section.
- C means Community Punishment and is anything from community service to a fine to supervised probation.
- I means Intermediate punishment and is supervised probation.
- A is active time in jail or prison.
How To Read The Grid
The numbers on the grid can get tricky. They signify the minimum number of months in jail to which you can be sentenced if you fall into that grid. The corresponding maximums for Class F through I felonies are in section (d) of the statute and look like this:
3-13 4-14 5-15 6-17 7-18 8-19 9-20 10-21
11-23 12-24 13-25 14-26 15-27 16-29 17-30 18-31
19-32 20-33 21-35 22-36 23-37 24-38 25-39 26-41
27-42 28-43 29-44 30-45 31-47 32-48 33-49 34-50
35-51 36-53 37-54 38-55 39-56 40-57 41-59 42-60
43-61 44-62 45-63 46-65 47-66 48-67 49-68
To arrive at your true minimum and maximum sentence, you use the first number from the top grid, and the corresponding number from the bottom grid. For example, let’s say you are convicted of a Class I felony at record level 1. You would fall into the bottom left box on the grid. Now let’s say you’re sentenced in the presumptive range (more on that later), which is 4-6 months. Your sentence is NOT 4-6 months. Those numbers indicate the minimum number of months a judge can give you. So if you fall in that box, a judge can sentence you to 4 months, 5 months, or 6 months as your minimum time in jail. Let’s say s/he sentences you to 4 months. To find out the maximum length of your sentence, look at the bottom grid and find the number 4. It reads 4-14. That means if a judge sentences you to 4 months minimum using the top grid, then your maximum sentence is 4 to 14 months.
For felonies in classes B1 through E, the maximum grid is found in section (e) of the statute and looks like this:
15-30 16-32 17-33 18-34 19-35 20-36 21-38 22-39
23-40 24-41 25-42 26-44 27-45 28-46 29-47 30-48
31-50 32-51 33-52 34-53 35-54 36-56 37-57 38-58
39-59 40-60 41-62 42-63 43-64 44-65 45-66 46-68
47-69 48-70 49-71 50-72 51-74 52-75 53-76 54-77
55-78 56-80 57-81 58-82 59-83 60-84 61-86 62-87
63-88 64-89 65-90 66-92 67-93 68-94 69-95 70-96
71-98 72-99 73-100 74-101 75-102 76-104 77-105 78-106
79-107 80-108 81-110 82-111 83-112 84-113 85-114 86-116
87-117 88-118 89-119 90-120 91-122 92-123 93-124 94-125
95-126 96-128 97-129 98-130 99-131 100-132 101-134 102-135
103-136 104-137 105-138 106-140 107-141 108-142 109-143 110-144
111-146 112-147 113-148 114-149 115-150 116-152 117-153 118-154
119-155 120-156 121-158 122-159 123-160 124-161 125-162 126-164
127-165 128-166 129-167 130-168 131-170 132-171 133-172 134-173
135-174 136-176 137-177 138-178 139-179 140-180 141-182 142-183
143-184 144-185 145-186 146-188 147-189 148-190 149-191 150-192
151-194 152-195 153-196 154-197 155-198 156-200 157-201 158-202
159-203 160-204 161-206 162-207 163-208 164-209 165-210 166-212
167-213 168-214 169-215 170-216 171-218 172-219 173-220 174-221
175-222 176-224 177-225 178-226 179-227 180-228 181-230 182-231
183-232 184-233 185-234 186-236 187-237 188-238 189-239 190-240
191-242 192-243 193-244 194-245 195-246 196-248 197-249 198-250
199-251 200-252 201-254 202-255 203-256 204-257 205-258 206-260
207-261 208-262 209-263 210-264 211-266 212-267 213-268 214-269
215-270 216-272 217-273 218-274 219-275 220-276 221-278 222-279
223-280 224-281 225-282 226-284 227-285 228-286 229-287 230-288
231-290 232-291 233-292 234-293 235-294 236-296 237-297 238-298
239-299 240-300 241-302 242-303 243-304 244-305 245-306 246-308
247-309 248-310 249-311 250-312 251-314 252-315 253-316 254-317
255-318 256-320 257-321 258-322 259-323 260-324 261-326 262-327
263-328 264-329 265-330 266-332 267-333 268-334 269-335 270-336
271-338 272-339 273-340 274-341 275-342 276-344 277-345 278-346
279-347 280-348 281-350 282-351 283-352 284-353 285-354 286-356
287-357 288-358 289-359 290-360 291-362 292-363 293-364 294-365
295-366 296-368 297-369 298-370 299-371 300-372 301-374 302-375
303-376 304-377 305-378 306-380 307-381 308-382 309-383 310-384
311-386 312-387 313-388 314-389 315-390 316-392 317-393 318-394
319-395 320-396 321-398 322-399 323-400 324-401 325-402 326-404
327-405 328-406 329-407 330-408 331-410 332-411 333-412 334-413
335-414 336-416 337-417 338-418 339-419
The Points
Points that create your felony record level are calculated much differently than those that comprise your misdemeanor record level. Remember that in misdemeanor sentencing, each felony or misdemeanor conviction gave you only one point. Simple. In felony sentencing, different classes of felonies give you different points. Your total number of points determines into which column of punishment options you fall on the felony grid. To calculate them, there is a sentencing worksheet found in AOC Form AOC-CR-600B that you can here: http://nccourts.org/Forms/Documents/145.pdf. That form will tell you that for each prior conviction for a Class A felony, you get 10 points. For each prior conviction for a B1 felony, you get 9 points. For each prior conviction for a Class B2, C, or D felony, you get 6 points. For each prior conviction for an E, F, or G felony, you get 4 points. For each prior conviction for an H or I felony, you get two points. And for each prior conviction for a Class A1 or Class 1 misdemeanor, you also get 1 point, which means that, theoretically, you could arrive at the maximum number of felony points without having ever committed a felony.
You also receive 1 additional sentencing point if: (1) all the elements of the current offense are contained in a prior conviction; (2) you committed the new offense while on supervised or unsupervised probation; (3) you committed the new offense while in jail; or (4) you committed the new offense while on escape from jail or a correctional institution. Numbers (2) and (3) rarely happen. However, committing new offenses while already on probation for a different offense is quite common. To determine whether (1) is met, consult with an attorney to discuss your record level and whether (1) applies to your case.
The Ranges
Unlike misdemeanor sentencing, felony sentences fall into one of three ranges: (1) aggravated; (2) presumptive; and (3) mitigated. The presumptive range is the sentencing range that is standard. However, when certain facts can make your sentence worse (aggravating factors) and certain facts can make your sentence better (mitigating factors). Judges use aggravating and mitigating factors as reasons to sentence outside the presumptive range for each block on the grid.
A list of aggravating factors is found in North Carolina General Statute section 15A-1340.16(d). In order to use an aggravating factor against you to increase your sentence, the State must provide written notice of its intent to prove specific aggravating factors at least 30 days prior to trial or plea, unless you waive the right to receive that notice. A list of mitigating factors is found in North Carolina General Statute section 15A-1340.16(e). A defendant generally presents as many as may apply to his case at sentencing and he must be given the opportunity to do so. No written notice is required to present mitigating factors. Once all the aggravating and mitigating factors are considered, a judge decides whether they affect your sentence. It is entirely in the judge’s discretion to decide whether to sentence outside the presumptive range, even if the aggravating and/or mitigating factors outweigh each other one way or another.
Don’t Go It Alone! Call An Experienced Criminal Defense Attorney
Possibly the most important take-away from this is the complexity of felony sentencing. Before accepting a plea deal or pleading guilty, consult an attorney at Jetton & Meredith to make sure you know all the factors potentially affecting your sentence.