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Waukesha County jail contraband scheme; search warrants unsealed

By and FOX6 News Digital Team
Updated  August 22, 2024 5:27pm CDT
Crime and Public Safety
FOX6 News Milwaukee

Waukesha County jail contraband scheme

Newly unsealed search warrants shed light on a Waukesha County jail contraband scheme.

The Brief

    • Unsealed search warrants are shedding light on a jail contraband scheme in Waukesha County.
    • A corrections officer pleaded guilty to charges associated with providing federal inmates with marijuana and a cellphone.
    • Johanna Grace is set to be sentenced in October.

WAUKESHA, Wis. - Newly unsealed search warrants shed light on a Waukesha County jail contraband scheme. 

The 34-page warrant for Johanna Grace's cellphone shows just what federal authorities were looking for in 2023 – records and information concerning contraband provided to federal inmates. 

In July 2024, Grace pleaded guilty to giving marijuana and a cellphone to a federal inmate at the Waukesha County Jail. At the time, Grace was a lieutenant. A special agent with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives Milwaukee Field Office led the investigation.

Johanna Grace

The report indicates in April 2023, a clerk at the jail received a call from a woman saying an inmate had access to an iPhone. During a search of the inmate's cell, investigators said they found a charging cord and headphones hidden inside a fruit snack bag.

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The inmate's girlfriend also voiced concern he was in a relationship with a corrections officer. 

When investigators searched Grace's phone, they found evidence she provided the inmate with phones on two separate occasions. Investigators said there were sexually explicit videos shared in text messages between the two. 

In text messages with the inmate's friend, investigators said Grace admitted to providing him drugs. 

Grace: "You know (inmate) are (ate) five gummies yesterday."

Friend: "Yeah, he was high is (expletive)."

In December 2023, Grace and another jail employee, Debrah Link, were bound over for trial in a separate case. 

Investigators said inmate Randy Glenn Jr. was found dead in his jail cell in January 2023 on Grace and Link's watch. 

Randy Glenn Jr.

The medical examiner found five small bags of cocaine in Glenn's stomach. Both women entered not guilty pleads to felony charges of "abuse of residents of penal facilities."

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Grace will be sentenced for the federal crimes in October. She faces up to five years in prison. She is due back in court in early September for the county case.