A Saginaw drug dealer freed from prison last year after President Joseph Biden commuted the man’s sentence was hit with new federal drug charges Tuesday, according to unsealed court records obtained by The Detroit News.
The drug conspiracy case was unsealed 14 months after Henri Buckner was freed from a Minnesota federal prison in one of Biden’s final acts as president. Buckner, 44, was released after serving less than two years of a nearly eight-year sentence for distributing cocaine but is back in jail amid the new drug case.
The unsealed criminal complaint alleges another example of people whose federal sentences were commuted by presidents committing new crimes after leaving prison. For example, at least 33 of the nearly 1,600 people pardoned by President Donald Trump for their roles in the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol have been arrested, charged or sentenced for new crimes, according to Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, a nonpartisan nonprofit government watchdog.
In the new case, Buckner was charged alongside three others with distribution and conspiracy to distribute more than five kilograms of cocaine in Saginaw. The others charged are Tawan Terrell, Emanuel Daniels and Courtney Terry.
The federal court case portrays Buckner as a large-scale drug dealer and alleges he wasted little time reverting to criminal behavior after leaving prison in February 2025. Five months later, in July, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives launched an investigation into Buckner’s alleged drug trafficking, an ATF special agent wrote in the unsealed criminal complaint.
“Since July 2025, ATF and (the Michigan State Police Bay Area Narcotics Enforcement Team) have conducted both covert and physical surveillance on Buckner…,” agent Kyle Sutton wrote. “During this surveillance, it was noted Terrell was making short trips to the metro-Detroit area approximately once a week before returning directly to” his home in Saginaw.
If convicted, Buckner faces at least 15 years in prison. His lawyer is not identified in federal court records. He is currently in custody in the Bay County Jail.
The new case marks a return to crime for Buckner, a man with a tumultuous upbringing who vowed to live a clean life after being convicted of drug dealing in 2023. At age 10, Buckner’s mother was stabbed to death by a boyfriend and, in a twist, federal prosecutors unsealed the new criminal charges on the first day the boyfriend was eligible to be paroled from prison.
“Mr. Buckner lost both parents as a minor and unfortunately engaged in illegal drug activity to find a way to survive,” his then-lawyer, Stefanie Lambert Junttila, wrote in a sentencing memorandum in 2023. “Mr. Buckner is extremely intelligent, and kind and has committed to living the remainder of his life as a law-abiding citizen.”
The new case intensified in February when investigators on surveillance duty watched Terrell visit a home in the 6000 block of Hereford Street on the east side of Detroit. The red-brick bungalow belongs to a kilogram-level drug dealer, according to the ATF.
“During a previous investigation in 2020 involving Buckner for the distribution of narcotics, under Miranda, Buckner had admitted he could purchase kilogram quantities of narcotics from” the alleged drug dealer, the ATF agent wrote.
Last month, investigators watched Buckner travel to a Saginaw storage facility with a woman who had rented a unit, according to the court filing.
Investigators raided the storage unit last month along with other locations in Saginaw. Inside, they found a “Sling smell-proof bag” filled with dryer sheets and two bags filled with cocaine.
Investigators also tracked Buckner and Terrell to a home in the 300 block of North Carolina Street in Saginaw. The investigators watched as Terrell tossed a black bag outside the home, according to the court filing.
“Law enforcement recovered the black bag and found a kilogram of cocaine inside of it,” Sutton wrote.
At another Saginaw home, investigators found cocaine and crack cocaine hidden in ceiling tiles and a sock.
“There was also evidence of manufacturing crack cocaine and distribution within the building including plastic baggies, a pill press, digital scales which tested positive for cocaine, a microwave, which also tested positive for cocaine, several boxes of baking soda, and a Pyrex measuring cup,” the ATF agent wrote.
rsnell@detroitnews.com
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Felon freed by Biden charged in new Saginaw-Detroit drug conspiracy
Reporting by Robert Snell, The Detroit News / The Detroit News
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