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Kasam Hennix, 42, of Easton, Penn., received a 171-month prison sentence, followed by five years of supervised release, Daly said.
Court documents and statements made in court found that on April 11, 2013 at 9 p.m., Hennix, William Davis, Christopher Gay and Jeffrey Houston, all wearing masks and gloves and two of them armed with handguns, broke into an apartment in Meriden. There they 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, 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.
Upon arrival at the jewelry store, the four stole jewelry, watches and loose diamonds with a total replacement value of more than $3 million, Daly said.
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, Daly said.
Hennix has been in custody since his arrest May 22, 2013. On May 18, 2015, he pleaded guilty to interference with commerce by robbery and 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 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 released from prison in October 2012.
William Davis of Allentown, Penn., Jeffrey Houston of Allentown, and Christopher Gay of the Bronx, N.Y., also pleaded guilty to charges stemming from their involvement. The fifth defendant is awaiting trial.
On April 17, 2015, Davis was sentenced to 176 months in prison and, on Jan. 27, Gay was sentenced to 102 months in prison. Houston has not yet 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.
The U.S. Marshals Service, FBI, Fairfield Police and Meriden Police investigated the case.
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