Fairfield Lenox Jewelers Robber Sentenced

A Pennslyvania man was sentenced to more than 14 years in prison for his part in a kidnapping and jewelry store robbery.

Kasam Hennix, 42, was part of a group that stormed into a Gravel Street apartment in Meriden and bound four people on April 11, 2013, according to the U.S. Attorney District of Connecticut office. Two victims were forced into a vehicle and taken to Lenox Jewelers in Fairfield where they worked by Hennix and others.

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.

Hennix was arrested on May 22, 2013 and pleaded guilty to one count of interference with commerce by robbery and one count of use of a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence.

His criminal history includes a conviction for third degree murder for which he served approximately 20 years in prison. In October 1992, he shot a victim multiple times with a sawed-off shotgun, and his co-defendant then shot the victim in the head, killing him.

He was discharged from custody in October 2012.William Davis of Allentown, Pa., Jeffrey Houston of Allentown, and Christopher Gay of the Bronx, N.Y., also pleaded guilty to charges stemming from their involvement in this kidnapping and robbery. The fifth defendant is awaiting trial.

On April 17, 2015, Davis was sentenced to 176 months in prison and, on January 27, 2016, Gay was sentenced to 102 months in prison. Houston has not been sentenced. Hennix, Davis and Gay have been ordered to pay restitution of more than $3.1 million.

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.