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Female Robber’s Accomplices Found Guilty
A federal jury in Florida returned the verdict against the three men who allegedly trained armed jewelry store robber Abigail Lee Kemp.
Panama City, Fla.--A federal jury in Florida returned a guilty verdict against the three men who allegedly trained and assisted the infamous female armed jewelry store robber, Abigail Lee Kemp.
Documents filed in federal court in Florida confirm that Lewis Jones III, along with brothers Larry Bernard and Michael Bernard Gilmore, were found guilty Monday of conspiracy to commit robberies affecting commerce along with multiple weapons charges.
The 25-year-old Kemp made headlines earlier this year because of the “extremely unusual” nature of the case--she would go into the stores alone and armed, and tie up the employees herself before stealing jewelry from the showcases and fleeing. This is unusual because jewelry store armed robberies are rarely carried out alone and almost never involve women, never mind women by themselves.
John Kennedy, president of the Jewelers’ Security Alliance, said when the case first made headlines that Kemp is the only lone female robber he can remember.
Kemp and Jones were arrested together in Smyrna, Ga., a suburb of Atlanta, on Jan. 8. Police picked up the Gilmore brothers in mid-February.
Earlier this month, the 25-year-old Kemp entered a guilty plea in federal court and then testified against her accomplices at their trial.
According to the Northwest Florida Daily News, Kemp told the jury that Jones and the Gilmore brothers, who owned a window tinting shop in Atlanta, recruited her for the robberies and then trained her, teaching her how to hold a gun and what jewels to grab.
Defense attorneys argued, however, that jurors shouldn’t listen to Kemp, painting her as a scorned ex-lover of Jones, a drug user and someone who was lying in exchange for a lighter sentence, NWFDailyNews.com reported.
In the end, the jury found Jones and the Gilmores guilty in connection with a total of six jewelry store robberies, in Woodstock and Dawsonville, Ga.; Sevierville, Tenn.; Panama City, Fla.; Mebane, N.C. and the South Carolina town of Bluffton.
Their sentencing is set for Oct. 12 while Kemp’s is scheduled to take place Oct. 10.
Jonathan Dingus, the Panama City-based attorney who represented Larry Gilmore, said his client is facing as much as 53 years behind bars, which essentially is a life sentence for the 43 year old.
He said if he does file any appeals in the case, it won’t happen until after sentencing.
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