Curtis Rakeem Clarke, 35, of Hickory, was sentenced to serve six to nine years in prison following his conviction for property crimes and admission of status as a habitual felon during Catawba County Superior Court on Wednesday, December 10, 2025.
The Honorable Peter Knight, Superior Court Judge from Henderson County, imposed terms of the active sentence after Clarke entered a guilty plea to possession of a stolen motor vehicle, three counts of obtaining property by false pretense and one count of attempted obtaining property by false pretense.
The defendant will serve his period of incarceration in custody of the North Carolina Division of Adult Corrections.
His sentence was enhanced by prior felony convictions for common law robbery in Alexander County (January 2023), possession of stolen motor vehicle in Catawba County (December 2019) and larceny of motor vehicle in Catawba County (December 2016).
The defendant was stopped by a Hickory police officer on September 3, 2024, and found to be in possession of a Honda Pilot that had been stolen out of Charlotte a day earlier.
He also tried to obtain various items on November 10, 2025, from a local business, using another person’s stolen credit card in an attempt to procure the merchandise.
Austin Gross and Karina Godoy handled the investigations for Hickory Police Department. Assistant District Attorney Howard Wellons prosecuted the matter for the State with aid from Legal Assistant Meredith Scott.