By NEAL WAGNER / Managing Editor

COLUMBIANA – A 49-year-old Warrior man will spend the next three years on work release after he pleaded guilty on Jan. 7 to committing home repair fraud and stealing from an elderly Alabaster couple.

Ferrell Wayne Spradlin, who lists an address on Sunview Road in Warrior, pleaded guilty to one felony count of financial exploitation of an elderly person during a Jan. 7 hearing in front of Shelby County District Court Judge Dan Reeves.

As a result of the guilty plea, Reeves sentenced Spradlin to a total of 36 months in the Shelby County Work Release program, followed by two years of supervised probation. Spradlin received 34 days of jail credit for time already served in the Shelby County Jail, and a misdemeanor count of home repair fraud was dropped against him through a plea agreement.

He must pay $1,638.71 in restitution to the victim, must undergo a substance abuse treatment assessment, may have to complete a substance abuse treatment program and must complete an anger management program. He must avoid contact with the victim in the case.

The Alabaster Police Department arrested Spradlin on Dec. 5, 2015, after police received a report from an elderly Alabaster victim claiming Spradlin offered to complete home repairs on her house, according to Alabaster Police Chief Curtis Rigney.

Rigney said Spradlin demanded money up-front for the home repair services, but never completed the repairs.

According to Spradlin’s arrest warrants, he allegedly collected $1,638.71 from the victim between January and March of this year, and failed to perform the repairs he was paid to complete.

According to court records, Spradlin previously pleaded guilty to one count of second-degree theft by deception in 2007, was sentenced to 10 years in prison and was released four years later after being transferred to a work release program.