Amarion Dewayne Jackson

Convicted and sentenced. Jackson, 20, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to kidnap and kidnapping and was sentenced to 235 months in federal prison, followed by five years of supervised release.

Introduction

Amarion Dewayne Jackson, a 20-year-old from Center Point, Alabama, was sentenced to 235 months in prison — more than nineteen and a half years — followed by five years of supervised release, for his role in a conspiracy to kidnap a man at gunpoint in exchange for payment of a drug debt he had nothing to do with . U.S. District Court Judge Anna M. Manasco imposed the sentence, announced by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Alabama on October 5, 2026, after Jackson pleaded guilty in April to conspiracy to kidnap and kidnapping . His co-defendant, Korbyn Markeith Williams, 21, of Alabaster, pleaded guilty the same month to conspiracy to kidnap, kidnapping, and receipt of ransom money, and is set for sentencing on January 13, 2027 .

Background Information

According to court documents, in January 2025 Jackson and Williams kidnapped a victim at gunpoint from his apartment in Tuscaloosa after a third party failed to pay them for a narcotics transaction — a debt the victim himself was not involved in . Both men were armed with pistols, threatened to kill the victim, and demanded at least $5,000 for his safe return; Williams digitally received $1,000 of ransom from the victim’s family . Someone called 911 to report that one of the kidnappers had said that if they were not paid, they would shoot the victim . The FBI investigated along with 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 Controversy or Incident That Led to Their Cancellation

The kidnapping collapsed at a Bessemer store, where a Bessemer Police Department officer responded to a call reporting an armed kidnapping involving a white car . The officer located the vehicle and activated her emergency lights at the exact moment Jackson and Williams — there to meet the victim’s family and collect the ransom in cash — were mid-exchange . Both were arrested, and the victim was recovered unharmed . In the vehicle, officers found pistols, ammunition, two black ski masks, and gloves — the kit of a planned abduction rather than a spontaneous confrontation . The court documents’ account of a stranger held at gunpoint and threatened with death over someone else’s drug debt is what carried both men to felony pleas .

Public Reaction and Consequences

U.S. Attorney Phillip W. Williams Jr. said his office “will not tolerate those who bring violence and fear into our communities”, and that the sentence sends “a clear message: those who commit violent crimes will be prosecuted and held accountable for their actions”, crediting the partners who ensured “the victim was recovered safely” . FBI Birmingham Special Agent in Charge David R. Fitzgibbons tied the sentence directly to the conduct: “The 235-month federal prison sentence and five years of supervised release imposed on Amarion Jackson for conspiracy to kidnap and kidnapping underscore our unwavering resolve” . He warned that “those who plot or carry out acts designed to create chaos or instill fear will be met with an immediate, coordinated, and forceful law enforcement response” .

Current Status

Jackson, 20, is serving his 235-month sentence with five years of supervised release to follow . Williams remains awaiting sentencing on January 13, 2027, on his three plea counts, which include the ransom-receipt charge Jackson’s did not carry . The victim’s recovery unharmed stands as the case’s one unambiguous good outcome .

Impact on Their Career/Life

At 20, Jackson will spend roughly the next two decades — the span in which most lives are built — in federal custody, for a kidnapping undertaken, by the government’s account, to collect someone else’s narcotics debt. The ski masks and gloves found in the car, and the $1,000 ransom actually received before the arrest, fixed the plot as deliberate in the court record. The case stands as the Northern District’s example that kidnapping-for-collection is charged federally and priced in decades, not months, even for a defendant who was a teenager when the plan was carried out.

Sources

• U.S. Attorney’s Office, Northern District of Alabama, “Jefferson County Man Sentenced to over 19 Years in Prison for Kidnapping Conspiracy,” October 5, 2026 — source