Family arraigned on drug charges
By Nick Hiltunen
Published in News on August 7, 2008 1:59 PM
Since December, the Sheriff's Office has conducted three raids on the same family household -- the Spruill residence on Dollard Town Road.
But those raids and the charges that came with them were not enough to stop at least one alleged cocaine trafficker.
Less than a week before his scheduled arraignment, Antonio Makee Spruill, 25, was charged with possession with intent to sell or deliver cocaine again.
On Wednesday, four Spruill family members, including Antonio, were arraigned in Wayne County Superior Court.
Antonio, Joe Nathan Spruill Jr., Joe Nathan Spruill Sr. and Matthew Jonas Spruill all pleaded not guilty, court records show.
A trial date is scheduled for Sept. 8.
The most recent drug raid, on July 31, came as Antonio Spruill sat at his home on pretrial release for other felony-level cocaine and weapons charges.
Also arrested at the time was Tavares Lavone Sutton, 31, who was charged with possessing the drug "ecstasy" with intent to sell or deliver and possession of cocaine, records show.
"He (Sutton) just happened to be there," Sheriff's Office Maj. George Raecher said.
Multiple detectives and Sheriff's Office deputies report that drug trafficking at the home is rampant and brazen, often taking place on a concrete picnic table outside the home.
Raecher said the number of drug raids and seizures indicates the severity of the problem at the Spruill household, just off N.C. 111 South near the Hickory Hills subdivision.
"I don't know of any other home that we've raided three times this year," Raecher said.
The Spruill family also suffered a house fire in February 2007, when 190 Dollard Town Road was completely destroyed on a 28-degree night.
The home was raided in December, February and July, and charges and drug seizures resulted from all three incidents, the Sheriff's Office reported.