Fairfield Lenox Jeweler Robbery Conspirator Sentenced

A Bronx, N.Y. man was sentenced to eight and a half years in prison for his part in a kidnapping and jewelry store robbery.

Christopher Gay, 30, and other armed perpetrators broke into a Meriden apartment on April 11, 2013 and bound four victims with duct tape. Two of the victims were forced to get in a vehicle and were driven to Lenox Jewelers in Fairfield, according to the U.S. Attorney District of Connecticut office.

Gay stayed at the Meriden apartment to guard the other two victims.

After the perpetrators arrived at the Fairfield store, they stole jewelry, watches and loose diamonds with a total replacement value of more than $3 million. They then fled in the victim’s car, leaving the two victims bound inside the store. One of the defendants called Gay to advise him that they had successfully carried out the robbery and that he should leave the apartment.

On May 22, 2013, Gay was arrested at a hotel in the Bronx. A search of his hotel room revealed approximately $59,000 in cash, two Movado watches, one Breitling watch and several pieces of jewelry that were still bearing price tags, including a pair of diamond earrings concealed inside a cassette case with a $23,800 price tag from Lenox Jewelers.

Gay pleaded guilty on Dec. 10, 2014 to one count of interference with commerce by robbery and one count of use of a firearm during the incident.

William Davis of Allentown, Pa., Jeffrey Houston of Allentown, and Kasam Hennix of Easton, Pa., also pleaded guilty to charges stemming from their involvement in this kidnapping and robbery. The fifth co-defendant is awaiting trial. On April 17, 2015, Davis was sentenced to 176 months of imprisonment. Houston and Hennix have not been sentenced.

The defendants also have forfeited gemstones, jewelry, watches, a vehicle, and more than $127,000 in cash seized from them at the time of their arrests.