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Kentwood man cleared of drug charges linked to cocaine-laden parcel

A jury deliberated about 90 minutes Wednesday before finding Cortney Jovon Spencer not guilty of two charges, including possession with intent to deliver cocaine.
Credit: WZZM file
A jury found Cortney Spencer not guilty of federal drug charges that could have kept him locked up for decades.

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — A jury on Wednesday cleared a Kentwood man of federal drug charges involving a Priority Mail package filled with 7½ pounds of cocaine that he placed in his car as investigators watched. 

Cortney Jovon Spencer was found not guilty of possession with intent to deliver cocaine. The offense is punishable by up to 40 years in prison. He was also acquitted of using the mail to commit a crime, a four-year felony.

Spencer, a family man who has worked at General Motors for 15 years, was elated with the jury’s decision, his attorney said Wednesday.

“He was wrongly accused and has taken a lot of negative backlash,’’ attorney Matthew G. Borgula said. “We are grateful that the system produced a fair and equitable verdict.’’

The two-day trial was held before U.S. District Court Judge Paul L. Maloney in Kalamazoo. Spencer, 40, took the stand in his own defense. Jurors deliberated about 90 minutes Wednesday before returning not guilty verdicts.

The U.S. Attorney's Office in Grand Rapids declined comment on the verdicts.

Spencer was arrested in late May after police say he took delivery of cocaine mailed from southern California. The cocaine, with an estimated street value of at least $112,000, was delivered to an address on Kalamazoo Avenue south of 52nd Street SE.

Spencer was arrested after placing the parcel in the backseat of his SUV. He denied knowing what was in the parcel, federal court records show. 

On the day of the arrest, Spencer was with a friend who was refurbishing a 1973 Chevrolet Caprice Classic. The friend would have car parts for his Caprice shipped to other person’s businesses or houses because he did not have a regular home address, Borgula wrote in court documents.

The man asked Spencer to drive him to a house to pick up a package containing car parts. When they arrived, “Spencer jumped out of his car and grabbed the package and placed the package next to his eight-year-old son who was also in the car with him and then prepared to drive off,’’ Borgula wrote. Spencer was arrested on the spot

Spencer “did not know what was in the package,’’ Borgula said. “He touched the package for less than 30 seconds. The package belonged to someone else.’’

Borgula said Spencer wants to put the ordeal behind him and get on with his life.

“He is extremely grateful and relieved,’’ Borgula said. “It has been a difficult period for him.’’

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