Indictment Charges Five Men with Kidnapping Meriden Residents, Robbing Fairfield Jewelry Store

Deirdre M. Daly, Acting United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, today announced that a federal grand jury sitting in Bridgeport has returned a 13-count indictment charging Timothy Forbes, 31, of Allentown, Pennsylvania; William Davis, 25, of Allentown; Jeffrey Houston, 26, of Allentown; Christopher Gay, 27, of Bronx, New York; and Kasam Hennix, 39, of Easton, Pennsylvania, with kidnapping four Meriden residents and robbing a Fairfield jewelry store of millions of dollars in merchandise in April. The indictment was returned yesterday.

As alleged in previously filed court documents, at approximately 9:00 p.m. on April 11, at least four men wearing masks and gloves, two of whom were armed with handguns, broke into an apartment on Gravel Street in Meriden, Connecticut, bound four victims with duct tape and covered their heads with pillowcases, towels, and jackets. Three of the perpetrators then forced two of the victims into a victim’s vehicle and drove to Lenox Jewelers in Fairfield, Connecticut, where the two victims worked. At the store, the perpetrators stole jewelry, watches, and loose diamonds valued at between four and five million dollars. They then fled in the victim’s car, leaving the two victims bound inside the store.

The indictment charges each of the five defendants with one count of conspiracy to commit kidnapping, four counts of kidnapping, one count of conspiracy to interfere with commerce through robbery, two counts of interference with commerce through robbery, two counts of interference with commerce by threats and violence, and three counts of use of a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence.

Davis, Houston, Gay, and Hennix have been detained since their arrests on May 22, and Forbes has been detained since his arrest on state charges earlier this month.

The indictment also seeks the forfeiture of gemstones, jewelry, watches, and more than $127,000 in cash seized from Davis, Gay, and Houston on May 22, as well as Houston’s vehicle.

If convicted, the defendants face a maximum term of imprisonment of life on each of the kidnapping charges, a maximum term of imprisonment of 20 years on each of the interference with commerce charges, and a consecutive term of imprisonment of seven years on each charge of using a firearm during the crime.

The case has been assigned to United States District Judge Robert N. Chatigny in Hartford.

Acting U.S. Attorney Daly stressed that an indictment is not evidence of guilt. Charges are only allegations, and each defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

This matter is being investigated by the United States Marshals Service, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Fairfield Police Department, and Meriden Police Department. Acting 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 United States Attorneys Tracy Lee Dayton and Douglas P. Morabito.