Michigan woman sentenced in drug-related deaths of 3 Grosse Pointe Woods residents

A Southeast Michigan woman will serve over 17 years in federal prison after pleading guilty to charges relating to fentanyl-laced cocaine. 

Three residents of Grosse Pointe Woods died as a result of the drug activity during July 2023, United States Attorney Jerome F. Gorgon Jr. said. "This drug dealer peddled deadly doses, floating like the grim reaper from one house to the next. She claimed three lives in one day — just so she could make a few bucks," Gorgon said. 

Aerian Porter-Craig, 34, formerly of Harper Woods, was sentenced Thursday to 210 months in prison after having pleaded guilty to distributing deadly doses of fentanyl-laced cocaine. 

According to federal officials, Porter-Craig provided drugs to two adults at a Grosse Pointe Woods home, and then to a third person at another home. Communications from the phones belonging to all three victims stopped shortly after she left each home. 

When police investigated, they found white powder that tested positive for cocaine and fentanyl at the first house, and white powder that contained fentanyl, cocaine, and xylazine. "According to their text messages, the victims thought they were buying cocaine," the district attorney's office said. 

The Wayne County Medical Examiner's office determined that all three died as a result of fentanyl-related toxicity. 

Porter-Craig was arrested in September 2024.

"Anyone who profits from pushing deadly drugs like fentanyl into our Michigan communities should expect to spend years in federal prison. This sentence makes that message unmistakably clear," said Jennifer Runyan, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Detroit Field Office. "While no sentence can bring back the lives lost due to this defendant's criminal actions, this outcome delivers justice." 

The Federal Bureau of Investigation worked with the City of Grosse Pointe Woods Detective Bureau on the case.