Woman Accused in String of Armed Robberies Indicted

Panama City, Fla.-- A grand jury in Florida has determined that there is enough evidence for the case against 24-year-old Abigail Lee Kemp, the woman accused in a string of jewelry store robberies across the Southeast, to move forward.

Kemp and her alleged accomplice, 35-year-old Lewis Jones III, were arraigned Friday in federal court after a grand jury returned an indictment charging them with conspiracy, obstructing commerce by robbery and brandishing a firearm during a crime of violence, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Florida announced.

According to the five-page indictment, between April 2015 and January 2016, Kemp and Jones conspired to commit armed robberies at a series of jewelry stores, including Jared Vault, Zales Outlet and Reeds Jewelers locations.

It also alleges that Kemp and Jones brandished and used a .40-caliber Smith and Wesson during the August robbery of a Reeds Jewelers in Panama City.

Both pleaded not guilty to the charges levied against them. The trial in this case is set to take place March 21 at the federal courthouse in Panama City.

If found guilty, the defendants face a maximum of 20 years in prison for both the conspiracy and obstructing commerce by robbery counts. For the firearm charge, the punishment ranges from seven years to life, to run consecutive with any penalty on the other counts.

Kemp and Jones were arrested together in Smyrna, Ga., a suburb of Atlanta, on Jan. 8, about four months before this “extremely unusual” case first made headlines.

They were charged in connection with the robberies of a total of six jewelry stores across the Southeast, the Reeds Jewelers in Panama City, plus stores in Woodstock, Ga., Dawsonville, Ga., Bluffton, S.C., Mebane, N.C. and Sevierville, Tenn.

According to the charging documents in the case, in each robbery, employees were ordered to the back of the store at gunpoint and forced to lie face down with their hands zip-tied behind their backs. The display cases were then robbed of hundreds of thousands of dollars in jewelry.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Florida is handling the case.