Skip to main content
Press Release

Anchorage Man Sentenced To 18 Years In Prison For Drug Death Of 14 Year-Old Girl

For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, District of Alaska

Anchorage, Alaska - U.S. Attorney Karen L. Loeffler announced today that Sean Michael Warner was sentenced in federal court in Anchorage for one count of distribution of heroin.  Warner previously pled guilty on September 2, 2014 to distributing heroin.  At that hearing, Warner admitted to personally injecting a 14-year-old minor with heroin on December 23, 2011.  Warner also admitted that the injection of heroin caused the death of the minor, identified in court documents as J.D.

Warner, 29, was sentenced today by United States District Court Judge Sharon L. Gleason, to 18 years in prison.

According to Assistant U.S. Attorney Bryan Schroder, Warner injected J.D. twice during the evening of December 22, 2011, and into the early morning hours of December 23rd.  When she later went into distress at approximately 9:30 a.m., Warner refused to call for assistance.  He finally called 911 at 1:36 p.m.  J.D. died on December 29, 2011.

In issuing the sentence, Judge Gleason recognized the grave seriousness of the offense of injecting the young victim with heroin, and especially disregarding her distress.

Ms. Loeffler stated, “This case and the tragedy of the death of this young victim highlights the scourge of heroin and the horrible impact it has on our community.”

Ms. Loeffler commends the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Anchorage Police Department, the U.S. Marshal’s Service, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the FBI Laboratory, and the Kenai Police Department for the investigation of this case.  This case was originally prosecuted in cooperation with the Anchorage District Attorney’s Office and the Alaska Department of Law.

Updated June 30, 2015

Component