New Gang Sentencing Enhancements

Two new sentencing enhancements related to gangs will come into effect for offenses committed on or after December 1, 2017. Session Law 2017-194 made numerous changes to North Carolina’s gang suppression laws. For starters, it dropped the “Street” from the title of the “Street Gang Suppression Act” in Article 13A of Chapter 14, replacing it with “Criminal.” It is the “North Carolina Criminal Gang Suppression Act” now. Numerous conforming changes are made throughout Chapters 14 and 15A. Among the other changes in the law are two new felony sentence enhancements, both added within Structured Sentencing (Article 81B of Chapter 15A). The first is for felonies committed as part of criminal gang activity. The second is for criminal gang activity by a criminal gang leader or organizer. Criminal Gang Activity Enhancement. Under new G.S. 15A-1340.16E(a), a person convicted of a Class C through I felony is subject to a one-class enhancement, capped at Class C, if that felony is found to have been committed as part of “criminal gang activity,” as that term is now defined in G.S. 14-50.16A(2). That subdivision defines “criminal gang activity” as the “commission of, attempted commission of, or solicitation, coercion, or intimidation of another person to commit” any of the following offenses, aside from the noted exceptions, in certain circumstances: Any offense in Article 5 of Chapter 90 (the Controlled Substances Act), or Any offense in Chapter 14 except those in Article 9 (Hazing); Article 22A (Trespass upon Posted Property to Hunt, Fish, Trap, or Remove Pine [...]