Work with the prosecutor, get him thrown in jail for a long, long time.
For future reference for everyone , anyone claiming "squatter's rights" generally doesn't know what they're talking about. There is such a thing, but the legal term is adverse possession and you have to sucessfully meet all of the elements for a period of years for it to have any legally binding impact. The time period varies from state to state, but in most states it's 20 years.
I am pretty sure in NC it is 5 years. And only pertains to land that is maintained with the express intent to maintain that land whereas if the owner of said land does not speak up for it, it then goes to the maintainer of the land.
