In North Carolina, any act of forgery is considered a serious offense. Outside of forged certificates pertaining to a person’s education, all other acts of forgery are considered felony offenses. First, it may help to understand what is considered forgery. Forgery is possessing, altering or creating specific replicas of instruments used with the intent of fraudulent gain. Forgeries can be uttered, which essentially means it is used for gain and it can be sold or transferred and in doing so, can be considered a felony.
The punishments that correspond to the various ways of committing a forgery are just as diverse. For instance, the Class 1 felony of possessing, creating or altering a forged instrument or even uttering a forgery, can result in a fine, it can land you with anywhere from 4 to 10 months in prison, or in some cases, it can result in both. Now, if you have on your person or are found to be transporting more than four of these forged instruments, the resulting charge is a Class G felony, which can result in just more than two years of prison time or the possibility of a steep fine, or both penalties could be passed down to you at the court’s discretion.
The Class H felonies of having in your possession, creating or changing a lease, deed, will or similar document that is forged, or transferring or selling a forgery for benefit can result in a maximum prison time of just less than two years or a court-set fine. In some cases, convicted felons are penalized with both.
If you are facing felony charges related to forgery, you are facing far-reaching charges that can stay with you if you are convicted. While you can see that the penalties vary in gravity, a felony charge is never a good thing, no matter how light the penalty attached. Seeking the counsel of a white collar crimes attorney in North Carolina may be the best move in seeing the penalties reduced or the charges dropped.