Six persons will be spending the holidays in jail awaiting trial on federal drug and weapon charges. Charges have been filed against Amber Wachowski, Arabella Balzan, Randy Wilhelm Junior and Autumn Thrall, all from the Manitowoc area, as well as two individuals identified as Milwaukee area drug sources. The charges were issued recently in the US District Court – Eastern District of Wisconsin, alleging that the group knowingly and intentionally conspired to possess and deliver at least 400 grams of the drug Fentanyl, enough to kill hundreds of thousands of people if it were pure.
The four from Manitowoc were also charged with conspiring to traffic 50 or more grams of methamphetamine. Randy Wilhelm Jr. was also charged with possession of a firearm by a felon.
Court documents claim that the six committed their crimes between March and August of this year before being nabbed by the Manitowoc County Metro Drug Unit, assisted by the DEA, the Wisconsin Division of Criminal Investigation, along with local Manitowoc County law enforcement agencies.
The fentanyl charges alone could put the individuals in prison for between 10 years and life on the first offense.
