Defendants Indicted In 5-State Armed Jewelry Thefts

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Jacksonville, GA -- The two suspects in a string of high-profile, multi-state armed robberies have been indicted by a federal grand jury in connection to the alleged crimes.

Abigail Lee Kemp, 24, of Smyrna, and Lewis Jones III, 35, of Atlanta were arraigned on Friday in federal court after the grand jury returned the indictment.

Both are charged with conspiracy, obstructing commerce by robbery and brandishing a firearm during a crime of violence.

The indictment was announced by Christopher P. Canova, acting United States Attorney for the Northern District of Florida.

The indictment alleges that between April 2015 and January, Kemp and Jones conspired to commit armed robberies at a series of jewelry stores, including Jared Vault, Zales Outlet and Reeds Jewelers. It also alleges the pair brandished and used a firearm during the robbery of Reeds Jewelers.

The trial is scheduled for 8:15 a.m. March 21 at the United States Courthouse in Panama City, Florida.

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The potential penalties for both the conspiracy and obstructing commerce by robbery counts are a maximum of 20 years in prison. For brandishing a firearm during a crime of violence, the punishment is a minimum of seven years and a maximum of life in prison, to run consecutive to any penalty on the other counts.

Both Kemp and Jones were initially charged by criminal complaint after they were arrested together Jan. 8 in the Smyrna area on charges related to the armed robberies of six jewelry stores in Panama City Beach, Woodstock, Dawsonville, Bluffton, South Carolina; Mebane, North Carolina; and Sevierville,Tennessee.

The complaint filed against both suspects alleges that, in each robbery, the robber or robbers displayed a handgun, ordered the employees to the back of the store, ordered them to lie face-down on the floor and bound their hands behind their backs with zip ties.

The suspects then removed hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of jewelry from the display cases. The spree appears to have kicked off in Woodstock with the April 28, 2015, robbery of Jared Vault at the Outlet Shoppes at Atlanta.

This case resulted from an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Assistant United States Attorney Kathryn D. Risinger is prosecuting the case.

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