A ‘top tier’ fentanyl dealer who faces up to hundreds of years in prison has a possible path to walking free after less than two years after the Brown County and the state of Wisconsin have failed to appoint him an attorney.

The state court of appeals is currently determining if James Grandberry, implicated in a series of charges related to dealing fentanyl, should have his case thrown out after he has been sitting in jail for over a year without being appointed an attorney, something lawmakers and law enforcement officials have expressed immense frustration at.

“We have been failing the people of Brown County and statewide by not having this issue addressed,” said State Rep. David Steffen, R-Howard.

In addition to the harms that may be caused by Grandberry being released, delays in appointing an attorney come at a significant cost to taxpayers as the defendant sits in jail awaiting trial. Representative Steffen has made it his goal to address the issue through legislation.

“Justice delayed is justice denied and that’s what we’re seeing here in Wisconsin,” Steffen further said.

Grandberry’s case is not an anomaly, as many criminal defendants have faced similar issues in Wisconsin. (RELATED: Calls Grow for Wausau Alderperson Lou Larson to Resign After Offensive Remarks on Charlie Kirk’s Killing)

In 2022, numerous indigent defendants in need of a public defender filed a lawsuit against Wisconsin’s State Public Defender (SPD) office, citing delays in receiving legal representation. (RELATED: Second UW-Madison Professor Caught Disparaging Charlie Kirk in Wake of Gruesome Assassination)

The lawsuit found that over 8,000 criminal defendants have waited more than 30 days for a public defender since 2019, with the Wisconsin Supreme Court reporting a backlog of 12,586 felony cases in August of this year.