North Carolina Criminal Law Blog

Police arrested two people in Raleigh on drug trafficking charges last week. A woman, Patricia Collins, was charged with trafficking in opium or heroin. Her bail was set at $150,000. A man, Ian Herd, was also charged with trafficking in opium or heroin; his bail was set at $100,000.

The cases are unrelated. Collins was arrested after she sold 4 grams of opium to an undercover police officer. She faces three counts of drug trafficking.

Herd was arrested when officers found 296 oxycodone pills in his possession. Investigators believe that he used his apartment as a storage and selling facility for the drugs. Oxycodone is classified as an opiate under North Carolina law.

A former Fort Bragg soldier was discharged after confessing to having had sex with four underage women. The former Army soldier was 20 and 21 at the time of the sexual encounters; the girls involved were 14 and 15. The nature of the soldier's discharge is unknown; an other-than-honorable discharge was recommended, however his wife reported that he received a general discharge.

The sex offenses took place in Fayetteville. The Army has turned over the information from its investigation to local law enforcement to determine whether criminal charges will be pursued. Statutory rape is a crime in North Carolina. A person who has sex with a minor between the ages of 13 and 15 may be guilty of a felony if he or she is four years older than the minor. If the age gap is six years or more, the penalty increases.

Just over a year ago, North Carolina began requiring a DNA sample from anyone charged with a higher-level felony offense including, among others, murder, manslaughter, rape, other sex offenses, kidnapping, most felony assaults, stalking and cyberstalking.

A cheek swab is taken when an accused individual is processed by law enforcement. Cheek cells contain the individual's DNA. The swab sample is then shipped to the North Carolina State Board of Investigation (SBI) for processing. Once the DNA analysis is complete, the information is uploaded into CODIS -- the Combined DNA Index System -- and is accessible by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) as well as other law enforcement agencies.

Those who refuse to give a DNA sample during booking will not be allowed to post bond to get out of jail until law enforcement is allowed to take the sample. The collection of DNA for anyone charged with a higher-level felony cost North Carolina almost $1 million in 2011.

Focusing on known sites that are used for storage and distribution of child pornography, law enforcement agencies recently cracked down on those who had established peer-to-peer connections with the sites in two massive sex offense sting operations. Police involved in the sting noted that peer-to-peer file sharing sites are the most frequently used methods of accessing and distributing child pornography.

The stings took place in New Jersey and Massachusetts, but similar action by law enforcement could be right around the corner here in North Carolina. Twenty-seven arrests were made in New Jersey and 32 were made in New York. Some IP addresses were traced to out-of-state computers. That information has been passed on to the Internet Crimes Against Children task force for follow up with other state law enforcement agencies.

Two football players at a North Carolina university were the subject of a recent investigation by the ASU Code of Student Conduct Board. Another student reported that the two had raped her at a fall party and then escaped through a second story window.

Both students were found to be responsible for sexual assault and sexual misconduct by the student conduct board last fall and were suspended for eight semesters each. A school appeals board upheld the finding and the suspensions. But, the University allowed the men back on campus and granted them each a new, separate hearing on the sex crimes allegations.

After the new hearings, one player was found responsible for the rape and the other was not.

Earlier this week, former Cary youth director Jerrod McCabe admitted to storing inappropriate images of children on his church computer. Arrested in March on 20 counts related to possession of child pornography, McCabe left his job as a youth director at the Raleigh Chinese Christian Church.

He pleaded guilty to three counts related to the sexual exploitation of a minor for the images of 4 to 7 year old girls found on his computer. He was sentenced to probation for a six to 17 month term, must register as a sex offender, enter a program for sex offender and substance abuse treatment and is prohibited from having contact with a child under age 16.

As long as he follows the terms of his probation, McCabe will not serve any time behind bars for the sex offenses.

A 68-year-old Raleigh man pled guilty to six counts related to bank fraud and identity theft midway through his jury trial in U.S. District Court in Elizabeth City, North Carolina. His plan had been to open a bowling and family entertainment center in Mebane, North Carolina. The site he had chosen for the new bowling center was part of strip mall and had previously been used for retail space. Substantial remodeling was necessary in order to turn the space into a bowling alley.

He himself did not have enough cash or assets for the banks to consider him an acceptable risk. He sought out another, high-asset individual to back his bowling alley project, but he or she would not get onboard. Instead of abandoning his plans, however, the man committed federal fraud when he submitted falsified documents and paperwork with forged signatures to secure the loans needed.

Alcohol, drugs and sex were given as reasons for arresting the manager of a North Carolina adult club, two of its dancers and eight others earlier this week. The club has been under investigation by the North Carolina Alcohol Law Enforcement (ALE) Division for several months; additional arrests are expected.

Local residents had complained about Thee Playhouse, in Hickory, prompting the investigation. Investigators from ALE reported purchasing drugs and witnessing violations of alcohol laws while at the adult club.

Charges against the 11 people range from knowingly allowing sexually explicit conduct and drug possession on the premise to engaging in sexually explicit conduct and possession with intent to sell or distribute drugs, including oxycodone, hydrocodone and marijuana. A conviction for any one of these crimes could include probation, fines, a prison sentence or other penalties.