A 20-year-old Center Point man was sentenced to 235 months in federal prison this week for kidnapping a Tuscaloosa man at gunpoint from his own apartment, part of a violent extortion scheme rooted in a drug debt the victim never owed. Amarion Dewayne Jackson will also serve five years of supervised release once his sentence is complete.
A Drug Debt That Wasn't His
Jackson and co-defendant Korbyn Markeith Williams, a 21-year-old Alabaster man, kidnapped the victim from his Tuscaloosa apartment in January 2025 as part of what prosecutors describe as a narcotics-related extortion plot, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. Tuscaloosa Violent Crimes Unit Commander Capt. Jack Kennedy said at the time, as reported by Tuscaloosa Thread, that the victim was abducted because an acquaintance of his had failed to pay for a large delivery of drugs — the victim himself was not involved in the transaction. Armed with pistols, Jackson and Williams threatened to kill the victim and demanded at least $5,000 for his release, with one of the kidnappers warning the victim would be shot if the payment didn't come through.
Williams later received $1,000 digitally from the victim's family, and the pair met with relatives to collect additional cash ransom money, according to WBMA. Someone called 911 as the extortion unfolded, setting off a scramble involving the Tuscaloosa Violent Crimes Unit, the West Alabama Narcotics Task Force, the Bessemer Police Department, and the FBI.
Spotted in a Bessemer Parking Lot
The break came when a Bessemer police officer located the suspects' white vehicle sitting in a local business parking lot, according to the station's report. Multi-agency law enforcement converged and arrested the armed pair with the victim still inside, recovering him unharmed. Officers searching the vehicle found pistols, ammunition, two black ski masks, and gloves, per the same account.
Amarion Dewayne Smith and Williams were initially arrested by local police and charged under Alabama state law with first-degree kidnapping, marijuana trafficking, and failure to affix a tax stamp, according to Patch. Both were then held without bond in the Tuscaloosa County Jail under Aniah's Law, the Alabama constitutional provision that allows judges to deny pre-trial release for serious violent felonies. Alabama voters ratified Aniah's Law in 2022, and they expanded it further in May 2026 through a statewide constitutional amendment broadening judicial authority to deny bail for shooting or discharging a weapon into an occupied place and solicitation, attempt, or conspiracy to commit murder, according to Ballotpedia.
Case Moves to Federal Court
A federal grand jury in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama formally indicted Jackson and Williams on federal kidnapping and conspiracy charges on May 21, 2025, according to court records reviewed by PacerMonitor. Jackson ultimately pleaded guilty to conspiracy to kidnap and kidnapping, and U.S. District Judge Anna M. Manasco handed down his 235-month sentence. Kidnapping convictions can carry a maximum sentence of life in prison.
Williams pleaded guilty in April 2025 to conspiracy to kidnap, kidnapping, and receipt of ransom money, and he is scheduled to be sentenced in federal court on January 13, 2027, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
Federal Officials React
U.S. Attorney Phillip W. Williams Jr. announced Jackson's sentence and said federal authorities will aggressively prosecute violent extortion schemes that threaten community safety. FBI Birmingham Special Agent in Charge David R. Fitzgibbons said the FBI was committed to creating a safer community. The case drew on investigators from the Tuscaloosa Violent Crimes Unit, the West Alabama Narcotics Task Force, the Bessemer Police Department, and the FBI, which jointly worked the kidnapping investigation from the initial rescue through federal prosecution.
