Jackson Man Granted Early Release from Prison Indicted on New Drug Charges

DETROIT - An indictment was unsealed today charging Warner Crider, age 57, with possessing and distributing more than 400 grams of fentanyl in Jackson County, announced United States Attorney Jerome F. Gorgon, Jr.. 

U.S. Attorney Gorgon was joined in the announcement by James Deir, Special Agent in Charge of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives. 

The offense of distributing more than 400 grams of fentanyl carries a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in prison and/or a $10 million fine. If convicted the actual sentence imposed would be decided by the judge after consideration of the Sentencing Guidelines and the individual history and background of the defendant. 

The case was investigated by special agents and task force officers of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, along with officers from the Blackman-Leoni Department of Public Safety and the Jackson Police Department.  It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys David Porter and Thomas Franzinger of the Eastern District of Michigan. 

An indictment is only a charge and is not evidence of guilt. Every defendant is entitled to a fair trial in which it will be the government’s burden to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

Crider, of Jackson and Highland Park, Michigan, was previously convicted in 2003 after a jury trial in the Eastern District of Michigan on charges of conspiring to distribute cocaine base (also known as crack) and firearms offenses. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, Crider ruthlessly ran a drug trafficking network spanning multiple counties, selling thousands of dollars of crack per day, and used threats, violence, and intimidation against his customers, rivals, the police and any other potential witnesses against him. Before his trial, he attempted to have two government witnesses killed.

Crider was sentenced to life in prison. However, in July 2020, Crider was granted compassionate release during  the Covid-19 pandemic, after a judge determined  that Crider no longer posed a danger to the community because his “record of rehabilitation from 17 years of incarceration significantly mitigates his risk of recidivism.” The judge further took “comfort in the fact that Crider will reside with family in Texas, far from his prior criminal contacts and influences.” 

In March 2026, Crider was found guilty of violating his terms of supervised release by committing another crime when he was convicted in state court for speeding away from police after he was pulled over, and his federal court supervision was terminated. The indictment unsealed today alleges that Crider possessed and sold fentanyl in September and October 2026.

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