A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT TO amend the law regarding the sentence that may be imposed on certain persons convicted of a drug trafficking offense.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
SECTION 1.  G.S. 90‑95(h)(5) reads as rewritten:
"(5)	Except as provided in this subdivision, a person being sentenced under this subsection may not receive a suspended sentence or be placed on probation. The sentencing judge may reduce the fine, or impose a prison term less than the applicable minimum prison term provided by this subsection, or suspend the prison term imposed and place a person on probation when the sentencing judge finds that the person meets the criteria set out in either sub‑subdivision a. or b. of this subdivision and enters that finding in the record:
a.	The person has, to the best of the person's knowledge, provided substantial assistance in the identification, arrest, or conviction of any accomplices, accessories, co‑conspirators, or principals; or
b.	The person has no prior convictions for crimes that produced or threatened serious bodily harm; has no prior felony convictions for the manufacture, sale, delivery, or possession of controlled substances as defined in this Article; and the sentencing judge finds by a preponderance of the evidence that the person did not possess a firearm during the commission of the offense."
SECTION 2.  A person convicted under G.S. 90‑95(h)(5) prior to the effective date of this act may petition the sentencing court for a change in the person's sentence. If the sentencing judge finds that the person meets the criteria set forth in G.S. 90‑95(h)(5), as amended by this act, the judge may make any sentencing change allowed under that subdivision.
SECTION 3.  This act becomes effective December 1, 2009.