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 G.S. 90‑95(h)(5)a. or G.S. 90‑95(h)(5)b. and enters that finding in the record:
a.	The person has, to the best of his or her 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:  (i) did not possess a firearm during the commission of the offense; (ii) played a minimal role in the drug scheme that led to the offense; (iii) carried out the offense at the direction of another; and (iv) stood to receive substantially less pecuniary gain from the offense than the person who directed the commission of the offense."
SECTION 2.   This act becomes effective December 1, 2011.