ASHEVILLE, N.C. (WLOS) — A Barnardsville man who was named as a habitual felon was sentenced on June 5 in Buncombe County Superior Court following his convictions for drug trafficking and armed robbery.
According to a June 8 news release from Buncombe County District Attorney Todd Williams, John Wesley Burleson, 37, was sentenced to 10-13 years in the North Carolina Department of Adult Correction following his convictions for trafficking in opium and heroin, robbery with a dangerous weapon and having attained the status of habitual felon. The judgments were entered by Superior Court Judge Jacqueline Grant in Buncombe County Superior Court, the release said.
The sentence follows Burleson’s judgment as a habitual felon under North Carolina law. A defendant qualifies as a habitual felon if he or she is charged with a new felony and have previously been convicted of three separate felonies. The prior offenses must be non-overlapping, meaning each offense must have been committed after the defendant was convicted of the earlier felony conviction, and the offenses must have occurred at different times…