N.C. Gen. Stat. § 14-7.2: Punishment.

When any person is charged by indictment with the commission of a felony under the laws of the State of North Carolina and is also charged with being an habitual felon as defined in G.S. 14-7.1, he must, upon conviction, be sentenced and punished as an habitual felon, as in this Chapter provided, except in those cases where the death penalty or a life sentence is imposed. (1967, c. 1241, s. 2; 1981, c. 179, s. 11.)