A Green Bay man was sentenced to eight years in prison for delivering fentanyl that led to a woman overdosing in 2024.
Demarcus Hicks, 37, of Green Bay, pleaded no contest June 5 to conspiring to deliver over 50 grams of fentanyl, a charged that stemmed from an investigation into a May 2024 overdose death. Other initial charges were dismissed.
Hicks was sentenced Aug. 3 by Brown County Circuit Court Judge Donald Zuidmulder to eight years in prison followed by eight years on extended supervision.
Defense attorney Brittany Van Rite asked the court for a four-year prison sentence.
Zuidmulder said he could not agree with that recommendation because it “depreciates the seriousness of the offense.” The state asked for 10 years in prison and 10 years on extended supervision.
Initially in July 2024, Hicks was charged with first-degree reckless homicide by drug delivery as a party to a crime, maintaining a drug trafficking place, possessing narcotic drugs, possessing drug paraphernalia and conspiring to to deliver more than 50 grams of fentanyl. Most of the charges were dismissed in return for the no contest plea.
On May 25, 2024, Green Bay police were dispatched to the 1900 block of Basten Street after a woman was found dead in her apartment, according to the criminal complaint. An autopsy found she died from toxic effects of fentanyl and para-fluorofentanyl, a synthetic opioid.
When investigators went through the victim’s phone they found phone calls, text messages and Cash App transactions between her and Hicks.
Hicks told police he was a distributor for Damien Gambrell, who pleaded guilty in federal court Sept. 17 to distributing fentanyl that resulted in death in connection to the woman’s overdose. Zuidmulder called Gambrell the “mastermind” behind the the fentanyl deliver and that Hicks is was a “runner and fall guy.”
Hicks has served 746 days in Brown County Jail as of Aug. 2, which is concurrent with his eight-year sentence.
Kathryn Byrnes is a reporter for the Green Bay Press-Gazette. You can reach her at kbyrnes@gannett.com or 920-431-8526.
This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press-Gazette: Green Bay man sentenced for delivering fentanyl in 2024 overdose death
Reporting by Kathryn Byrnes, Green Bay Press-Gazette / Green Bay Press-Gazette
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By Kathryn Byrnes, Green Bay Press-Gazette | USA TODAY Network
