Ex-CEO of New Hampshire drug treatment centers charged in scheme to vandalize journalists' homes
CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — The founder and former CEO of New Hampshire's largest network of addiction treatment centers has been charged with orchestrating threats and vandalism targeting New Hampshire Public Radio journalists who published sexual misconduct allegations about him.
Eric Spofford, 40, who lives in both Salem, New Hampshire, and Miami, was arrested Friday after being indicted by a federal grand jury on three counts of stalking and one count of conspiracy to commit stalking. The man he is accused of paying to carry out the 2022 attacks and three others who were involved have already been convicted.
According to prosecutors, the homes of an NHPR editor, reporter and the reporter's parents were hit with bricks, rocks and red spray paint in six incidents in April and May 2022. In one incident, a brick was thrown through reporter Lauren Chooljian's window in Massachusetts, and the phrase 'JUST THE BEGINNING!' was spray-painted on the front of her home.
The attacks came after Choolijian published a story describing sexual assault and harassment allegations against Spofford, who founded Granite Recovery Centers in 2008 and sold the business in 2021. He denied the allegations and later sued the journalists, alleging defamation, but the case was dismissed.
Court documents do not list an attorney for Spofford, who was scheduled to make an initial court appearance in Boston on Monday. A lawyer who had previously represented him did not respond to a phone message or email.
Prosecutors say Spofford paid his friend, Eric Labarge, $20,000 to vandalize the homes and provided the addresses and specific instructions. Labarge is serving 46 months in prison; three other men who helped carry out the attacks were given sentences ranging from 21 to 30 months.
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