IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF NORTH CAROLINA No. COA18-966 Filed: 16 April 2019 Rowan County, Nos. 16 CRS 52465, -67, -69 STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA v. DARREN LYNN JOHNSON Appeal by defendant from judgments entered 14 February 2018 by Judge Lori I. Hamilton in Rowan County Superior Court. Heard in the Court of Appeals 27 February 2019. Attorney General Joshua H. Stein, by Assistant Attorney General Joseph L. Hyde, for the State. Mary McCullers Reece for defendant. ARROWOOD, Judge. Darren Lynn Johnson (“defendant”) appeals from judgments entered on various drug related offenses. For the following reasons, we vacate the judgments and remand for resentencing. I. Background During an undercover narcotics operation conducted by the Rowan County Sheriff’s Department, officers purchased what they believed to be narcotics from defendant during controlled buys on 7, 12, and 28 April 2016 and on 11 May 2016. STATE V. JOHNSON Opinion of the Court Following the exchange on 11 May 2016, officers initiated a traffic stop and pulled defendant over, searched the occupants of the vehicle, recovered what was believed to be additional narcotics from defendant, and arrested defendant. On 12 September 2016, a Rowan County Grand Jury returned indictments charging defendant with two counts of possession with intent to sell or distribute (“PWISD”) heroin, two counts of selling heroin, two counts of trafficking in heroin by possession, two counts of trafficking in heroin by transport, two counts of trafficking in heroin by selling, one count of PWISD a schedule II controlled substance (methylphenidate hydrochloride), one count of PWISD cocaine, and one count of PWISD a schedule IV controlled substance (alprazolam). Defendant’s case was tried in Rowan County Superior Court before the Honorable Lori I. Hamilton beginning on 13 February 2018. On 14 February 2018, the jury returned verdicts finding defendant guilty on one count of PWISD heroin, two counts of selling heroin, one count of trafficking in heroin more than 4 grams but less than 14 grams by possession, one count of trafficking in heroin more than 4 grams but less than 14 grams by transportation, one count of trafficking in heroin more than 4 grams but less than 14 grams by selling, and one count of PWISD a schedule II controlled substance (methylphenidate hydrochloride). The trial court dismissed the other indicted offenses either because of an error in the indictment or because the lab -2- STATE V. JOHNSON Opinion of the Court results showed no controlled substances were discovered during testing of the substances believed to be controlled substances. Upon return of the jury verdicts, the trial court consolidated some offenses and entered four judgments as follows: the trial court (1) consolidated the convictions for PWISD heroin with the two counts of selling heroin and sentenced defendant at the top of the presumptive range to a term of 14 to 26 months; (2) sentenced defendant for trafficking in heroin by possession to a consecutive mandatory term of 70 to 93 months; (3) consolidated the convictions for trafficking in heroin by transport ...
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