NC Gen Stat § 15A-1340.17 (2021)
2021 North Carolina General Statutes|Chapter 15A - Criminal Procedure Act|Article 81B - Structured Sentencing of Persons Convicted of Crimes.|§ 15A-1340.17 - Punishment limits for each class of offense and prior record level.

 15A-1340.17. Punishment limits for each class of offense and prior record level.(a) Offense Classification; Default Classifications. - The offense classification is as specified in the offense for which the sentence is being imposed. If the offense is a felony for which there is no classification, it is a Class I felony.(b) Fines. - Any judgment that includes a sentence of imprisonment may also include a fine. If a community punishment is authorized, the judgment may consist of a fine only. Additionally, when the defendant is other than an individual, the judgment may consist of a fine only. Unless otherwise provided, the amount of the fine is in the discretion of the court.(c) Punishments for Each Class of Offense and Prior Record Level; Punishment Chart Described. - The authorized punishment for each class of offense and prior record level is as specified in the chart below. Prior record levels are indicated by the Roman numerals placed horizontally on the top of the chart. Classes of offense are indicated by the letters placed vertically on the left side of the chart. Each cell on the chart contains the following components:(1) A sentence disposition or dispositions: "C" indicates that a community punishment is authorized; "I" indicates that an intermediate punishment is authorized; "A" indicates that an active punishment is authorized; and "Life Imprisonment Without Parole" indicates that the defendant shall be imprisoned for the remainder of the prisoner's natural life.(2) A presumptive range of minimum durations, if the sentence of imprisonment is neither aggravated or mitigated; any minimum term of imprisonment in that range is permitted unless the court finds pursuant to G.S. 15A-1340.16 that an aggravated or mitigated sentence is appropriate. The presumptive range is the middle of the three ranges in the cell.(3) A mitigated range of minimum durations if the court finds pursuant to G.S. 15A-1340.16 that a mitigated sentence of imprisonment is justified; in such a case, any minimum term of imprisonment in the mitigated range is permitted. The mitigated range is the lower of the three ranges in the cell.(4) An aggravated range of minimum durations if the court finds pursuant to G.S. 15A-1340.16 that an aggravated sentence of imprisonment is justified; in such a case, any minimum term of imprisonment in the aggravated range is permitted. The aggravated range is the higher of the three ranges in the cell.PRIOR RECORD LEVEL      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  (d) Maximum Sentences Specified for Class F through Class I Felonies. - Unless provided otherwise in a statute establishing a punishment for a specific crime, for each minimum term of imprisonment in the chart in subsection (c) of this section, expressed in months, the corresponding maximum term of imprisonment, also expressed in months, is as specified in the table below for Class F through Class I felonies. The first figure in each cell in the table is the minimum term and the second is the maximum term.3-13 4-14 5-15 6-17 7-18 8-19 9-20 10-2111-23 12-24 13-25 14-26 15-27 16-29 17-30 18-3119-32 20-33 21-35 22-36 23-37 24-38 25-39 26-4127-42 28-43 29-44 30-45 31-47 32-48 33-49 34-5035-51 36-53 37-54 38-55 39-56 40-57 41-59 42-6043-61 44-62 45-63 46-65 47-66 48-67 49-68(e) Maximum Sentences Specified for Class B1 through Class E Felonies for Minimum Terms up to 339 Months. Unless provided otherwise in a statute establishing a punishment for a specific crime, for each minimum term of imprisonment in the chart in subsection (c) of this section, expressed in months, the corresponding maximum term of imprisonment, also expressed in months, is as specified in the table below for Class B1 through Class E felonies. The first figure in each cell of the table is the minimum term and the second is the maximum term.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.  (e1) Maximum Sentences Specified for Class B1 through Class E Felonies for Minimum Terms of 340 Months or More. - Unless provided otherwise in a statute establishing a punishment for a specific crime, when the minimum sentence is 340 months or more, the corresponding maximum term of imprisonment shall be equal to the sum of the minimum term of imprisonment and twenty percent (20%) of the minimum term of imprisonment, rounded to the next highest month, plus 12 additional months.(f) Maximum Sentences Specified for Class B1 Through Class E Sex Offenses. - Unless provided otherwise in a statute establishing a punishment for a specific crime, for offenders sentenced for a Class B1 through E felony that is a reportable conviction subject to the registration requirement of Article 27A of Chapter 14 of the General Statutes, the maximum term of imprisonment shall be equal to the sum of the minimum term of imprisonment and twenty percent (20%) of the minimum term of imprisonment, rounded to the next highest month, plus 60 additional months.  (1993, c. 538, s. 1; 1994, Ex. Sess., c. 14, ss. 20, 21; c. 22, s. 7; c. 24, s. 14(b); 1995, c. 507, s. 19.5(l); 1997-80, s. 3; 2009-555, s. 2; 2009-556, s. 1; 2011-192, s. 2(e)-(g); 2011-307, s. 1; 2011-412, s. 2.4(a); 2013-101, s. 6; 2013-410, s. 3(b).)