A Catawba County jury needed less than an hour of deliberation to find a Hickory woman guilty of habitual larceny on Tuesday, February 6, 2024, to conclude a two-day Superior Court trial.
Ashley Hoffman, 38, was sentenced to an active prison term of seven to 10 years by the Honorable Gregory R. Hayes, Superior Court Judge from Catawba County, after she was found guilty by the jury and admitted her status as a habitual felon.
The defendant will serve her sentence in the custody of the North Carolina Division of Adult Corrections.
Her incarceration period was enhanced by prior felony convictions for habitual larceny (September 2018), possession of stolen goods/property (May 2013) and obtaining controlled substance by fraud/forgery (March 2007). All those convictions were in Catawba County.
Jury selection started Monday afternoon, followed by evidence presentation and arguments from the prosecution and defense on Tuesday.
On February 4, 2022, Hoffman went into the manager’s area of a grocery store and took an employee’s wallet. She took the wallet to another area of the store, pulled cash out of it and hid the wallet behind some items on a shelf. The incident was seen on the store’s video surveillance footage.
Hoffman previously was convicted of felony larceny in May 2013, and misdemeanor larceny in September 2012, March 2007 and July 2006, all in Catawba County.
Hickory Police Department handled investigation of the offense. Assistant District Attorney Howard Wellons prosecuted the case with the aid of Legal Assistant Meredith Scott.