08/02/09 — Last drug suspect takes plea deal in trafficking case

View Archive

Last drug suspect takes plea deal in trafficking case

By Nick Hiltunen
Published in News on August 2, 2009 2:00 AM

A cocaine trafficking case that involved three family members of a Dollard Town Road house ended in a plea deal for the last remaining defendant.

Joe Nathan Spruill Jr., 32, pleaded no contest to felony level charge of maintaining a dwelling for a controlled substance, court records show.

Spruill Jr. was ordered to serve 36 months supervised probation with a suspended 6 to 8 months sentence, according to court records.

He will serve 100 hours of community service and will attend a "redemption conference" to be held in November by the Stop the Funeral Initiative, a local group with religious and NAACP ties.

The 32-year-old will also pay a $500 fine and court costs, court records show.

In a year's time, the Sheriff's Office raided the Spruill home, off 111 South, at least three times, former Maj. George Raecher reported in 2008.

Spruill Jr.'s arrest was a result of the first of the drug raids in December 2007, when Spruill Jr. was jailed under a $40,000 bond.

Sheriff Carey Winders has said that a number of arrests have been made at the home over the past decade.

Neighboring residents had lobbied the Sheriff's Office numerous times for action against alleged rampant drug trafficking at the home, officials said.