RIVERHEAD, N.Y. (1010 WINS) — A former Suffolk County legislator and doctor pleaded guilty on Friday to trading opiate pills for sex, according to the Suffolk County Prosecutor’s Office.
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Dr. William Spencer, 55, was the legislative majority leader and chairman of the legislature’s Health Committee. He also had a position on the heroin and opiate epidemic advisory panel.
In addition to his roles as an elected official, he worked as a pediatric ear, nose and throat specialist and was an ordained minister.
He was arrested on Oct. 20, 2020 after he texted a sex worker proposing a trade of drugs for sex. Spencer was unaware that she had overdosed on heroin a month earlier and that her phone was being held by law enforcement.
Police agreed to make the trade and arrested Spencer when he arrived at the agreed upon meeting place with two unprescribed oxycodone pills and a condom.
After a decade of service as a Suffolk County legislator, Smith decided not to run for re-election due to his pending trial.
In July 2020, he told police he was the victim of a prostitution extortion scheme. “I have not sought the services of prostitutes or call girls,” he said in a sworn statement, according to prosecutors.
In a Riverhead court Friday, he pleaded guilty to a felony charge of tampering with public records due to his false police statement alongside a misdemeanor charge of patronizing a prostitute.
As part of the plea deal, he’ll serve a six month jail sentence with a year of probation.
If he completes that first year-long probation period, prosecutors agreed to dismiss the felony plea, at which point he’ll be sentenced to an additional two years probation.
He agreed not to reapply for a license from the Drug Enforcement Administration to prescribe drugs as part of the deal as well.
“This is a sad day. Dr. Spencer admitted to violating the laws he swore to uphold as an elected official and wasting police resources by lying in a sworn written statement,” said Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond Tierney. “No one is above the law, including elected officials who engage in criminal conduct.”
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