GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) — Two Green Bay brothers were convicted of trafficking thousands of fentanyl pills disguised as Percocet into Wisconsin.
A federal jury in Green Bay convicted Don A.K. James, Jr., 24 and Frederick L. Brewer, 34, of conspiracy to distribute fentanyl, possessing fentanyl with intent to distribute, and distributing fentanyl.
Prosecutors say in January and February of 2022, Brewer sold fentanyl pills to a Brown County Drug Task Force informant. The potentially lethal pills had been illicitly manufactured to resemble Percocet.
After Brewer was arrested, they learned his brother, James, had negotiated with an Arizona-based source to buy thousands of counterfeit Percocet pills containing fentanyl.
Officials say James flew to Arizona in early January 2022 to buy at least 15,000 pills. While there, he sent a video to a large-scale buyer in the Green Bay area showing that James had at least 19,000 pills to distribute.
When James flew back to Wisconsin, the told the buyer that he now had 30,000 fentanyl pills and was ready to do business, prosecutors say.
Investigators say Brewer conspired with and assisted James in the fentanyl-trafficking operation, including when James returned from Arizona with the “load” of pills.
When James was arrested, he attempted to swallow a bag of 58 fentanyl pills. After a several-minute struggle, investigators administered Narcan to protect James against a potential overdose, forcing James to spit out the bag. James feared that he had swallowed two pills and pleaded for additional medical help. An ambulance was called and James was taken to the hospital for medical clearance.
James later posted bail and was released, only to be re-arrested in June 2022 when he was found in possession of over 750 fentanyl pills with the intent to distribute, authorities say.
“Across the country – including in the Eastern District of Wisconsin – fentanyl is cutting a deadly swath through families and communities,” stated U.S. Attorney Gregory Haanstad. “The fact that traffickers like those convicted by the jury in this case are willing to increase the risk of overdoses by disguising this deadly substance as something less lethal is particularly disturbing. We are committed to working with all of our federal, state, local, and tribal partners to hold drug traffickers accountable for their actions.”
Both men will be sentenced by Judge William C. Griesbach in May.
James faces at least 10 years in prison and a maximum of life in prison. James has multiple prior convictions, including a felony cocaine conviction that resulted in probation.
Brewer faces up to 30 years in prison. He has been previously convicted of multiple drug felonies, including possessing cocaine with intent to deliver in 2006, resulting in probation that was later revoked; two counts of delivering cocaine, one count of delivering fentanyl, and one count of possessing cocaine with intent to deliver, all in 2018, resulting in a four-year prison term. After Brewer was released early from prison in 2020, he committed the new offenses, resulting in another revocation and prison term that he is currently serving.
