Brown County drug trafficking suspect James Grandberry. (Photo source: Brown County Jail)
GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – James Grandberry will have a preliminary hearing Oct. 22, more than 15 months after he was arrested in connection with a Chicago-to-Green Bay drug ring. Such hearings are usually required within 10 days, leading to his case becoming an example of the backlog in the court system due to a lack of public defenders.
Grandberry, 36, faces 14 charges, including three of manufacture or delivery of fentanyl, amphetamines and cocaine, after a bust last August. He was arrested on July 11, 2024, and charged about two weeks later. Prosecutors have since said this case was the state’s first wiretap investigation for fentanyl and at least 47 people are facing charges.
Grandberry was in court Tuesday for a brief hearing, where next week’s session was set.
Separately, the state Court of Appeals is considering Grandberry’s request to have the case against him dismissed, arguing his Constitutional rights were unduly violated by the delay in scheduling the preliminary hearing.
A few years ago, the Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled a Green Bay man’s rights had been violated because he sat in jail 113 days without a preliminary hearing. The charges against that man were able to be refiled.
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