COLLIER COUNTY, Fla. -- A Collier County man has been sentenced to prison for drug charges that arised from his suspicious actions during a traffic stop.
According to the State Attorney's Office, Elijah Spaulding, III decided to plea during jury selection last week 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 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.
