Alleged Outlet Mall Jewelry Thief Appears In Court

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Woodstock, GA -- The woman accused of pulling off jewelry store armed robberies in Woodstock and across the southeast has been formally charged for her alleged crimes.

Abigail Lee Kemp, 24, of Smyrna was charged on Friday by criminal complaint with conspiracy to interfere with commerce by threats or violence, the FBI said.

The criminal complaint was announced by Christopher P. Canova, acting United States attorney for the Northern District of Florida.

According to the complaint, Kemp “conspired with others to commit armed robberies of six jewelry stores in Panama City Beach, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, and Tennessee” between April 2015 and January 2016.

In each robbery, the suspects allegedly displayed a handgun, directed employees to the back of the store, ordered them to lie on the floor and used zip ties to bound their hands behind their backs, the complaint outlines.

The suspects then proceeded to remove jewelry worth hundreds of thousands dollars from display cases in the stores they targeted.

See also:

• Outlet Mall Armed Robbery Suspects Possibly Tied To Florida Case: FBI
• Outlet Mall Armed Robbery Suspect Remains at Large

The FBI stated Kemp made her initial appearance Monday in Judge Walker’s courtroom in the Northern District of Georgia in Atlanta.

Her next court appearance will take place at a date to be determined in the U.S. District Court in Panama City, Florida, in the Northern District of Florida. The punishment for the alleged crime is a maximum of 20 years in prison.

Kemp is accused of targeting various stores within the last several months, including Jared Vault store in Mebane, North Carolina, on Jan. 4; Sevierville, Tennessee, on Oct. 16, 2015; Jared Jewelry in Bluffton, South Carolina on Sept. 2, 2015; Reeds Jewelers in Panama City Beach, Florida, on Aug. 11, 2015; Zale’s Jewelry in Dawsonville, Georgia, on Aug. 5, 2015; and Jared Jewelry in Woodstock on April 29, 2015.

A black male suspect in his late 30s or early 40s and approximately 6’ tall and 250 pounds was also seen on surveillance video during the robberies in Panama City, Woodstock and Dawsonville.

The FBI is investigating the case and Assistant United States Attorney Kathryn D. Risinger is prosecuting the case.

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Photo credits: FBI/Woodstock Police Department