Gang Crimes and Gang Enhancement

Criminal Gang Defense

North Carolina Gang Defense.

North Carolina § 14-50.16. Pattern of criminal street gang activity

 (a) It is unlawful for any person employed by or associated with a criminal street gang to do either of the following:

   (1) To conduct or participate in a pattern of criminal street gang activity.

   (2) To acquire or maintain any interest in or control of any real or personal property through a pattern of criminal street gang activity.

A violation of this section is a Class H felony, except that a person who violates subdivision (a)(1) of this section, and is an organizer, supervisor, or acts in any other position of management with regard to the criminal street gang, shall be guilty of a Class F felony.

(b) As used in this Article, “criminal street gang” or “street gang” means any ongoing organization, association, or group of three or more persons, whether formal or informal, that:

   (1) Has as one of its primary activities the commission of one or more felony offenses, or delinquent acts that would be felonies if committed by an adult;

   (2) Has three or more members individually or collectively engaged in, or who have engaged in, criminal street gang activity; and

   (3) May have a common name, common identifying sign or symbol.

(c) As used in this Article, “criminal street gang activity” means to commit, to attempt to commit, or to solicit, coerce, or intimidate another person to commit an act or acts, with the specific intent that such act or acts were intended or committed for the purpose, or in furtherance, of the person’s involvement in a criminal street gang or street gang. An act or acts are included if accompanied by the necessary mens rea or criminal intent and would be chargeable by indictment under the following laws of this State:

   (1) Any offense under Article 5 of Chapter 90 of the General Statutes (Controlled Substances Act).

   (2) Any offense under Chapter 14 of the General Statutes except Articles 9, 22A, 40, 46, 47, 59 thereof; and further excepting G.S. 14-78.1, 14-82, 14-86, 14-145, 14-179, 14-183, 14-184, 14-186, 14-190.9, 14-195, 14-197, 14-201, 14-247, 14-248, 14-313 thereof.

(d) As used in this Article, “pattern of criminal street gang activity” means engaging in, and having a conviction for, at least two prior incidents of criminal street gang activity, that have the same or similar purposes, results, accomplices, victims, or methods of commission or otherwise are interrelated by common characteristics and are not isolated and unrelated incidents, provided that at least one of these offenses occurred after December 1, 2008, and the last of the offenses occurred within three years, excluding any periods of imprisonment, of prior criminal street gang activity. Any offenses committed by a defendant prior to indictment for an offense based upon a pattern of street gang activity shall not be used as the basis for any subsequent indictments for offenses involving a pattern of street gang activity.

North Carolina § 14-50.19. Threats to deter from gang withdrawal

   (a) It is unlawful for any person to communicate a threat of injury to a person, or to damage the property of another, with the intent to deter a person from assisting another to withdraw from membership in a criminal street gang.

(b) A violation of this section is a Class H felony.

North Carolina § 14-50.22. Enhanced offense for criminal gang activity

  A person age 15 or older who is convicted of a misdemeanor offense that is committed for the benefit of, at the direction of, or in association with, any criminal street gang is guilty of an offense that is one class higher than the offense committed. A Class A1 misdemeanor shall be enhanced to a Class I felony under this section.

North Carolina § 14-50.24. Real property used by criminal street gangs declared a public nuisance; abatement.

(a) Public Nuisance. —  Any real property that is erected, established, maintained, owned, leased, or used by any criminal street gang for the purpose of conducting criminal street gang activity shall constitute a public nuisance and may be abated as provided by Article 1 of Chapter 19 of the General Statutes.

(b) Innocent Activities. — The provisions of this section shall not apply to real property used for criminal street gang activity where the owner or person who has legal possession of the real property does not have actual knowledge that the real property is being used for criminal street gang activity.

North Carolina § 14-50.25. Reports of disposition; criminal street gang activity

 When a defendant is found guilty of a criminal offense, other than an offense under G.S. 14-50.16 through G.S. 14-50.20, the presiding judge shall determine whether the offense involved criminal street gang activity. If the judge so determines, then the judge shall indicate on the form reflecting the judgment that the offense involved criminal street gang activity. The clerk of court shall ensure that the official record of the defendant’s conviction includes a notation of the court’s determination.