Carissa Lynn Lochbaum, 33, of Hickory, will serve six to eight years in prison following her plea to trafficking fentanyl and concealing/failing to report a death during Catawba County Superior Court on Tuesday, July 22, 2025.
The Honorable Peter Knight, Superior Court Judge from Henderson County, imposed terms of the active sentence after Lochbaum entered the guilty plea.
The defendant will serve her period of incarceration in custody of the North Carolina Division of Adult Corrections. She also will be required to pay a mandatory fine of $500,000.
During a traffic stop by deputies with the Catawba County Sheriff’s Office on May 25, 2024, a search revealed drugs and a handgun. During an interview, Lochbaum said they were hers. She also admitted that drugs found in a hotel room where she was staying also belonged to her.
The drugs were sent to the State Crime Lab for analysis. Results showed that they were a trafficking amount of fentanyl.
The trafficking offense came four months after Lochbaum’s involvement in a concealment of a death case.
Investigation by the Long View Police Department, showed that a female victim was found deceased in a vehicle from an overdose in the parking lot of an apartment complex on January 5, 2024.
At some point, Lochbaum picked up a male companion who had left the victim in the car. Lochbaum had knowledge of the female’s death but did not take any action to report it. She admitted she knew the victim died from an overdose and should have reported it.
The cases were investigated by Long View Police Department and Catawba County Sheriff’s Office. Assistant District Attorney Taylor Rockett prosecuted the matter for the State with aid from Legal Assistant Britnee Ulsamer.