State v. Weldon, ___ N.C. App. ___, 811 S.E.2d 683 (Feb. 20, 2018)

No prejudicial error occurred with respect to the trial court’s finding that the defendant’s prior federal conviction of unlawful possession of a firearm was substantially similar to the North Carolina conviction of possession of a firearm by a felon, for purposes of assigning an extra point when all of the elements of the present offense are included in any prior offense for which the defendant has been convicted. Here, the extra point elevated the defendant from Level I to Level II. The defendant argued that the State failed to present evidence of substantial similarity. The court held that because the trial court’s finding was in fact correct, any error that occurred was harmless. In its holding the court concluded that a finding that an out-of-state offense is substantially similar to a North Carolina offense is sufficient for a finding that the elements of the present offense are included in any prior conviction under G.S. 1340.14(b)(6).