JEFFERSON COUNTY MAN SENTENCED TO MORE THAN 19 YEARS FOR ARMED KIDNAPPING TIED TO DRUG DEBT

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – A Jefferson County man has been sentenced to more than 19 years in prison for participating in an armed kidnapping in which an uninvolved victim was abducted and held for ransom after another person failed to pay a drug debt.

U.S. District Court Judge Anna M. Manasco sentenced Amarion Dewayne Jackson, 20, of Center Point, Alabama, to 235 months in prison, or 19 years and seven months, followed by five years of supervised release. Jackson pleaded guilty in April to conspiracy to kidnap and kidnapping.

His co-defendant, Korbyn Markeith Williams, 21, of Alabaster, Alabama, also entered guilty pleas in April to conspiracy to kidnap, kidnapping, and receipt of ransom money. Williams is scheduled to be sentenced on January 13, 2027.

Court documents show that the case grew out of a narcotics transaction in January 2025. After a third party failed to pay Jackson and Williams for the drug transaction, the two men targeted someone who had no involvement in the deal and abducted him at gunpoint from his apartment in Tuscaloosa.

Jackson and Williams were both armed with pistols during the kidnapping. They threatened to kill the victim and demanded at least $5,000 in exchange for his safe return. Williams received $1,000 electronically from the victim’s family as part of the ransom demand.

The caller notified law enforcement that one of the kidnappers had threatened to shoot the victim if payment was not made.

The investigation later shifted to Bessemer, where a Bessemer Police Department officer responded to a report of an armed kidnapping involving a white vehicle at a store. The officer located the vehicle and activated her emergency lights.

Jackson and Williams had traveled to the location to meet members of the victim’s family and collect additional ransom money in cash. Officers arrested both men before the exchange could be completed, and the victim was recovered unharmed.

Investigators found pistols, ammunition, two black ski masks, and gloves inside the vehicle.

The circumstances of the case made the kidnapping particularly serious because the victim had no role in the narcotics transaction that triggered the dispute. Jackson and Williams used an uninvolved person as leverage in an effort to force payment from someone else, turning a drug-related debt into an armed kidnapping involving ransom demands and repeated threats of death.

U.S. Attorney Phillip W. Williams Jr. said the sentence reflects the seriousness of violent crimes that use fear and intimidation against members of the community. He also credited the law enforcement agencies involved in locating the victim, recovering him safely, and bringing Jackson into custody.

David R. Fitzgibbons, Special Agent in Charge of FBI Birmingham, said the 235-month sentence demonstrates the FBI’s commitment to confronting individuals who use violence to terrorize communities. Fitzgibbons also emphasized the importance of coordinated law enforcement action when threats, kidnapping, and firearms place a victim in immediate danger.

The case required cooperation across multiple jurisdictions and investigative units. The FBI investigated alongside the Tuscaloosa Violent Crimes Unit, the West Alabama Narcotics Task Force, and the Bessemer Police Department.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Daniel S. McBrayer prosecuted the case.

Jackson has now been sentenced following his guilty plea, while Williams remains awaiting sentencing on his own convictions. The case underscores how quickly a criminal dispute can escalate once firearms, abduction, ransom demands, and threats of lethal violence are introduced, particularly when an uninvolved person is deliberately used as leverage to collect a debt.

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