2 pistols recovered after arrests in Southern jewelry heists

In addition to charges related to the armed bank robberies, Jones has been charged with conspiracy to interfere with commerce by threats or violence for the jewelry heists and faces a maximum of 20 years in prison if convicted.

Abigail Lee Kemp’s family and friends said nothing as they left the Atlanta court.

The goal of Monday’s appearance, Judge Linda T. Walker said, was to alert Kemp of the charges pending against her. She has not yet entered a plea. Jones allegedly participated in the armed robberies of the Navy Federal Credit Union in Atlanta, Ga. on August 12, 2014 and Regions Bank in Smyrna, Ga. on September 9, 2014 with two other men. Court records do not indicate whether Jones has a lawyer.

The FBI says this is Abigail Kemp during the robbery of a jewelry store in North Carolina recently.

The jewelry store hold-ups in Tennessee and North Carolina each netted more than $900,000, and a total of at least $2.2 million was taken in the string of crimes, court records show.

After the arrests, Kemp agreed to speak with agents and told them how she would go into a jewelry store wearing an earpiece with a microphone attached to her cellphone so she could communicate with Jones during the heists, court records state.

Kemp looked unhappy while undertaking her perp walk into court Monday, and is said to have wept in front of the judge, which is all understandable and should be a reminder that jewel theft is probably a lot more trouble than it looks. Her typical MO was to pull out a gun, order employees to the back of the store, have them lie facedown, and zip-tie their hands, then empty out the jewelry drawers, the affidavit says. Federal agents recovered cell tower information that put Kemp’s phone number at almost all of the robbery locations.

A man was seen with the woman on surveillance video during robberies in Florida and Georgia, the Federal Bureau of Investigation said.

The second pistol, which was Kemp’s, was found on a counter in the kitchen area, Borghini said. The FBI says the 24-year-old woman brazenly robbed jewelry stores in five states. Jones has also been in custody since Friday.

Authorities haven’t identified an alleged accomplice in the robbery spree, but court records say he acted as a lookout in some of the robberies.

“Within hours of issuing a press release this week requesting assistance in identifying the suspects, the FBI Jacksonville Division began to receive numerous credible leads from the public.”

The case will be prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s office in Jacksonville, Florida.