Pennsylvania Man Sentenced to More Than 14 Years in Federal Prison for Kidnapping, Jewelry Store Robbery

Deirdre M. Daly, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that KASAM HENNIX, 42, of Easton, Pa., was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Robert N. Chatigny in Hartford to 171 months of imprisonment, followed by five years of supervised release, for his role in a violent kidnapping and jewelry store robbery in April 2013.

According to court documents and statements made in court, at approximately 9:00 p.m. on April 11, 2013, HENNIX, William Davis, Christopher Gay and Jeffrey Houston, all of whom were wearing masks and gloves and two of whom were armed with handguns, broke into an apartment on Gravel Street in Meriden, Conn., bound four victims with duct tape and covered their heads with pillowcases, towels and jackets.  HENNIX, Davis, and Houston then forced two of the victims into a victim’s vehicle and drove to Lenox Jewelers in Fairfield, Conn., where the two victims worked.  A fifth defendant traveled to Fairfield in a separate vehicle, and Gay remained in the Meriden apartment to guard the two other victims.

After the perpetrators arrived at the Fairfield store, they stole jewelry, watches and loose diamonds with a total replacement value of more than $3 million.  They then fled in the victim’s car, leaving the two victims bound inside the store.  One of the defendants called Gay to advise him that they had successfully carried out the robbery and that he should leave the apartment.  The defendants abandoned the victim’s vehicle before they fled the state.

HENNIX has been detained since his arrest on May 22, 2013.  On May 18, 2015, he pleaded guilty to one count of interference with commerce by robbery and one count of use of a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence.

HENNIX’s criminal history includes a conviction for third degree murder for which he served approximately 20 years in prison.  In October 1992, HENNIX shot a victim multiple times with a sawed-off shotgun, and his co-defendant then shot the victim in the head, killing him.  He was discharged from custody in October 2012.

William Davis of Allentown, Pa., Jeffrey Houston of Allentown, and Christopher Gay of the Bronx, N.Y., also pleaded guilty to charges stemming from their involvement in this kidnapping and robbery.  The fifth defendant is awaiting trial.  On April 17, 2015, Davis was sentenced to 176 months in prison and, on January 27, 2016, Gay was sentenced to 102 months in prison.  Houston has not been sentenced.

HENNIX, Davis and Gay have been ordered to pay restitution of more than $3.1 million.

The defendants also have forfeited gemstones, jewelry, watches, a vehicle, and more than $127,000 in cash seized from them at the time of their arrests.

This matter has been investigated by the U.S. Marshals Service, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Fairfield Police Department and Meriden Police Department.  U.S. Attorney Daly also acknowledged the assistance provided by the U.S. Marshals Service and FBI in New York and Pennsylvania; the York, Allentown and Bethlehem Police Departments in Pennsylvania, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Tracy Lee Dayton.