Defendant Elijah Spaulding III decided to plea during jury selection this afternoon in Collier
County. He pled no contest to four counts of Possession of a Controlled Substance, one count of
Possession of Heroin, one count of Possession of Paraphernalia, and one count of
Resisting/Obstructing an Officer without Violence.
Spaulding was sentenced to 6 months in jail on each count to be served concurrently. He also
was given a one year driver’s license suspension and must pay court costs and the cost of
prosecution. He also must pay $488 to the Collier County Sheriff’s Office for the cost of their
investigation.
In April of this year, a car was stopped for rolling a stop sign in Collier County. Spaulding, the
passenger in the vehicle, was making quick movements inside the car. Deputies asked him to
step out and he did but did not follow the instructions of the deputies. He was handcuffed and the
car was searched. A box was found in the trunk containing drugs and paraphernalia. It also
contained the wallet and prescription pills of the driver but the defendant told deputies the illegal
items were his.
Assistant State Attorney Brian Ashby prosecuted the case.
Samantha Syoen
Communications Director
State Attorney’s Office
ssyoen@sao20.org
239-533-1125