Woman from Smyrna Sentenced in $4M Jewelry Heist

SMYRNA, GA -- A Smyrna woman who was part of a band of armed robbers that committed a string of jewelry store heists throughout the South will spend 10 years behind bars, federal law enforcement officials said recently.

Abigail Lee Kemp, 25, was sentenced for her part in committing a number of felonies, including conspiracy, interfering with commerce by robbery, and using a firearm during a crime of violence, Christopher P. Canova, U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Florida, announced Friday.

The conspirators went from city to city between April 2015 and January 2016, hitting jewelry stores for goods amounting to $4 million in Mebane, North Carolina, Sevierville, Tennessee; Bluffton, South Carolina and the Georgia cities of Dawsonville and Woodstock, prosecutors said.

Read more: Defendants sentenced in $4 million jewelry heist

Two of the bandits liked Kemp's criminal prowess so much, that they started to train her to rob the stores by herself, the U.S. Attorney's Office said.

In December 2015, Kemp was almost nabbed when a jewelry store manager thought she matched the description of a woman linked to previous armed robberies in the South. Police were called but the thieves left the store without taking anything, prosecutors said.

The other defendants in the case are:

-- Larry Bernard Gilmore, 43, of Atlanta. He was sentenced to 32 years in prison and ordered to pay $1.49 million in restitution.

-- Lewis Jones III, 36, and Michael Bernard Gilmore, 47, both of Atlanta. Their sentencing hearings will be Feb. 16 at 2 p.m., according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.

Patch's Kristal Dixon contributed to this report.

Image via FBI Jacksonville Field Office