Lying to Police Officers
If a person willfully makes or causes to be made to a law enforcement officer a false, deliberately misleading, or unfounded report, for the purpose of interfering with, hindering, or obstructing the law enforcement officer in the performance of his duty, he is guilty of a Class 2 misdemeanor. The punishment for a Class 2 misdemeanor ranges from 1-60 days, depending on prior convictions. A person with no prior convictions can be sentenced to up to 30 days, but this punishment must be community punishment.
If a person makes a false, deliberately misleading, or unfounded report relating to an investigation involving either the disappearance of a child (less than 16 years old) or a child victim (less than 16 years old) of a Class A, B1, B2 or C felony offense, that person is punished as a Class H felon. North Carolina law provides that a person who commits a Class H felony must receive a sentence between 4 and 25 months, depending on the person’s prior convictions. A person with no prior convictions may receive a community or intermediate punishment, but the court is permitted to sentence any person convicted of a Class H felony to active jail time.