He graduated with honors from the University of North Carolina Law School, and he has served as an Associate with the law firm, Uzzell & Dumont, in Asheville, North Carolina; Assistant U. S. Attorney in Charlotte, North Carolina; State District Judge; and Partner of Tucker, Hicks, Sentelle, Moon & Hodge. Judge Sentelle has taught law and criminal justice at the University of North Carolina and Florida State University. In the fall of 1985, he joined the Western District of North Carolina where he served as U. S. District Judge until his appointment in 1987 to the U. S. Court of Appeals. Judge Sentelle’s scholarly articles have appeared in such journals as the Campbell Law Review, Harvard Journal of Law & Public Policy, Michigan Law Review, and Wake Forest Law Review.