Was your friend a veteran? If not, that may be the deciding factor.
Perhaps the fact that the man denied his rights in this account *is* an army veteran is the true “red flag”?
No he is not. If I were forced to guess I would say that 42 years ago possession in NC was a felony, but he was a kid so got a slap on the wrist. But it was still marked as a felony for purpose of record keeping and never changed when the law did.