The Georgia woman accused in six violent jewelry store robberies across the Southeast could face 20 years in federal prison if convicted, the Department of Justice said Monday. And she may have attempted an additional robbery, but a UPS delivery driver may have made her too nervous to carry it out, according to investigators.
Abigail Lee Kemp, 24, was arrested Friday in Smyrna and charged with conspiracy to interfere with commerce by threats or violence, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Florida said. Investigators said her arrest came just days the FBI’s request for help in solving crimes in Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina and Tennessee.
On Monday, the FBI announced Kemp’s alleged accomplice, Lewis Jones III, 35, was arrested along with her and was in the DeKalb County jail after being charged in an August bank robbery.
In each store robbery, employees were forced at gunpoint to lie face-down while their hands were zip-tied behind their backs. Then the robber, sometimes with an accomplice, removed hundreds of dollars worth of jewelry from display cases before leaving.
The latest robbery was Jan. 4 in North Carolina, according to investigators. A store in Panama City Beach, Fla., was robbed Aug. 11, about three months after the string of crimes began in Georgia, according to investigators. One was in Woodstock and one in Dawsonville.
A Macon store, Reed’s Jewelry, may have been targeted Dec. 30, according to a federal affidavit. But a UPS driver came into the store, and the suspected would-be robber appeared to get nervous and left, the affidavit states.
Surveillance cameras captured images of two suspects during the robberies, and several people identified the woman as Kemp, the FBI said.
Kemp’s initial court appearance was Monday in Atlanta. The next court appearance will take place in the U.S. District Court in Panama City, Fla., but has not yet been scheduled.
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