GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – An attorney has been appointed for James Grandberry – one of the suspects in a Chicago-to-Green Bay drug ring, but who hasn’t had a preliminary hearing more than 14 months after he was arrested.
Grandberry, 36, faces 14 charges, including three of manufacture or delivery of fentanyl, amphetamines and cocaine, after a bust last August. Seven people were arrested, with Grandberry facing the most charges. 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.
A preliminary hearing is an early step in the criminal process, where prosecutors have to show there is enough for the case to proceed. For those in custody – as Grandberry is, being held on a $1 million cash bond – such hearings are supposed to take place within ten days. However, as the state had been unable to find an attorney for Grandberry, that hearing has been postponed at least seven times, most recently on July 15…