The founder of New Hampshire's largest network of addiction treatment centers is accused of orchestrating a conspiracy to vandalize the homes of New Hampshire Public Radio reporters after the publication of an investigation into his alleged sexual abuse and harassment.
Eric Spofford, who lives in both New Hampshire and Miami, was arrested Friday and will be arraigned in Boston federal court on Monday.
In spring 2022, NHPR journalist Lauren Chooljian published a story detailing allegations of sexual assault and harassment by Spofford. Over the next few months Chooljian's home in Melrose, Massachusetts, her former home in New Hampshire, and the homes of her parents and editor, Dan Barrick, were all vandalized.
Prosecutors say Spofford paid his close friend, Eric Labarge, $20,000 in two installments to vandalize the homes in 2022. Spofford allegedly provided the addresses and specific instructions on what to do. Labarge then found three others to carry out the attacks.
The men threw bricks and rocks through windows and spray painted intimidating messages on the homes, according to court records.
"JUST THE BEGINNING," was spray painted on Chooljian's home.
Labarge and the men he hired were previously charged and convicted. Labarge was sentenced to 46 months in prison last November. The other three were given sentences that range from 21 to 30 months.
Spofford sued Chooljian, two fellow journalists and NHPR for defamation in 2022 following the publication of the story. The case was dismissed, with a New Hampshire judge ruling that the lawsuit lacked clear evidence.
Spofford sold Granite Recovery Centers in 2021.
Spofford faces one count of conspiracy to commit stalking through interstate travel and using a facility of interstate commerce; one count of stalking using a facility of interstate commerce; and two counts of stalking through interstate travel.
An attorney listed for Spofford did not immediately return a message seeking comment.
Attacks on journalists have no place in American life, said NHPR President and CEO Jim Schachter.
"Everyone at New Hampshire Public Radio is grateful to the FBI and U.S. Attorney’s Office for their persistence in pursuing Eric Spofford and his associates," Schachter said. "His attempt to silence NHPR’s reporting on abuses of power in the addiction recovery industry failed, as should every attempt to snuff out press freedom."
The investigation into Spofford, including the attacks, were the subject of a 2023 NHPR podcast called The 13th Step.
WBUR reported and edited this story independently, at the request of the NHPR newsroom. No NHPR staff or leadership had oversight or reviewed the story before it was published.
