Two Green Bay men sentenced to federal prison for trafficking fentanyl disguised as Percocet

MILWAUKEE, Wis. (WBAY) - On May 24, 2023, 24-year-old Don A.K. James, Jr. was sentenced to 15 years in federal prison. One week later, on June 1, 2023, 34-year-old Frederick L. Brewer was sentenced to 12 years, also in federal prison, according to a written statement from the U.S. Department of Justice.

Both men are from Green Bay and were convicted by a jury of conspiracy to distribute fentanyl, possessing fentanyl with intent to distribute, and distributing fentanyl.

The evidence presented at trial showed that in January and February 2022, Brewer sold fentanyl pills to an informant working with the Brown County Drug Task Force (BCDTF). The potentially lethal pills had been illicitly manufactured to resemble Percocet, a prescription pain reliever, in the form of blue “M30″ pills.

The statement further reads that after BCDTF investigators arrested Brewer, they learned that James -- Brewer’s brother -- negotiated with an Arizona-based source to buy thousands of counterfeit Percocet “M30″ pills containing fentanyl.

James had flown 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.

James flew back to Wisconsin and boasted to the buyer that he now had 30,000 fentanyl pills and was ready to do business.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office says Brewer conspired with and assisted James in the fentanyl-trafficking operation, including when James returned from Arizona with the pills.

When James was arrested, he attempted to swallow a bag of 58 fentanyl pills. After a struggle that lasted several minutes, during which drug task force members gave James Narcan to stop a potential overdose, they forced James to spit out the bag, which was still intact. James feared that he had swallowed two pills and pleaded for additional medical help, and he was taken to a hospital to be checked out.

James later posted bail and was released, only to be arrested again in June 2022 when he was found in possession of over 750 fentanyl pills with the intent to distribute.

In sentencing both men, Judge Griesbach emphasized that trafficking fentanyl is equivalent to distributing “poison.”

The judge cited recent data from the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) showing that 6 in 10 counterfeit pills tested at DEA Crime Labs contain a potentially lethal dose of fentanyl.

In 2021, the DEA determined that 40% of pills were potentially lethal, but by 2022, the fatal dosage increased to 60% of tested pills. According to the DEA, fentanyl remains the deadliest drug threat facing this country. It is a highly addictive synthetic opioid that is 50 times more potent than heroin and 100 times more potent than morphine. Just two milligrams of fentanyl, the small amount that fits on the tip of a pencil, is considered a potentially deadly dose.

According to the Center for Disease Control (CDC), 107,622 Americans died of drug poisoning in 2021, with 66 percent of those deaths involving synthetic opioids like fentanyl. This case was investigated by the Brown County Drug Task Force and the Drug Enforcement Administration. Assistant United States Attorney Tim Funnell prosecuted the cases.

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