A federal judge will review the grand jury minutes in a former Joliet police officer’s drug trafficking case at the request of his attorneys following the fallout from the unrelated “Broadview Six″ case.

On Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Sara Ellis granted a motion from attorneys for William Busse, 42, for the judge to conduct a private review of the grand jury minutes that led to the Aug. 29, 2024 indictment against Busse, court records show.

Busse was an officer for the Joliet Police Department until 2021. He faces charges of distributing cocaine, fentanyl and methamphetamine in 2021 in Lockport, Orland Park and Chicago.

William Hardwicke, an assistant federal public defender, filed the grand jury review motion on behalf of Busse on June 4.

Hardwick’s motion said the defense has “recently become aware of several high profile allegations of misconduct involving this same special June 2024 grand jury.”

The special June 2024 grand jury in Busse’s case, which returned an indictment while former U.S Attorney Morris Pasqual was in office, was the same grand jury that returned an indictment in the 2025 federal case against a group of protesters known as the “Broadview Six.”

The protesters were demonstrating against the federal immigration crackdown in northern Illinois called Operation Midway Blitz.

The protesters were charged with felony conspiracy but the case collapsed following claims of prosecutorial misconduct before a grand jury, according to the Chicago Sun-Times.

Hardwicke’s motion cited the “Broadview Six″ case, as well as the court transcript published on May 22 by Block Club Chicago that revealed U.S. District Judge April Perry’s comments regarding the grand jury proceedings in the case.

Perry found there was “improper prosecutorial vouching” to grand jurors, improper prosecutorial communications with grand jurors outside the grand jury room and prosecutors excusing grand jurors who disagreed with their case from the deliberations process, according to the transcript.

“In light of these troubling allegations, the defense would like to review the grand jury transcripts for Mr. Busse’s case. The government has agreed to produce the transcripts of all witness testimony before the grand jury to the defense,” according Hardwicke’s motion.

Hardwicke’s motion requested Ellis perform a private review of the “grand jury minutes, including the government’s presentation of law to the grand jury, that led to the return of the indictment in this case.”

Busse’s next court hearing is on Aug. 18.

In 2019, Busse had been arrested twice in New Lenox on domestic battery charges. Retired Joliet Police Chief Al Roechner had recommended Busse for termination in Feb. 28 2020.

On May 5, 2021, a settlement was reached between Busse and the city that led to his termination.

The first domestic battery case against Busse was dismissed after police witnesses were not available to testify. The second case went to trial and a jury found Busse guilty of domestic battery but not guilty of resisting officers.

Following the “Broadview Six″ case, U.S. Sens. Dick Durbin and Tammy Duckworth, as well as numerous Democratic elected officials, have called for the resignation of Andrew Boutros, the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois.

In a statement, U.S. Rep. Jesús “Chuy” García said Boutros “has disgraced the office he leads.”

“Between the baseless Broadview Six case, the ridiculous charges against Marimar Martinez, and the credible allegations of dysfunction and misconduct, he has made it clear that he will put politics above the interests of Chicagoans and other residents of the Northern District,” Garcia said.