Oklahoman gets 5 years in heist at west Little Rock jewelry story

The last of a group of Oklahoma men who meticulously planned and carried out a "terrorizing" armed robbery of a Little Rock jewelry store on Sept. 22, 2015, was sentenced Thursday to five years in prison.

Jobie Lorenzo Kirk, 53, faced up to eight years in federal prison, where parole isn't available, for being a planner and a getaway driver in the heist that netted the thieves a sparkling array of goods for which Roberson's Fine Jewelry had paid $335,000 and hoped to sell for nearly double that amount.

Kirk pleaded guilty Jan. 30 to a charge of conspiring to interfere with commerce by robbery, admitting that he drove one of two getaway vehicles that waited behind the Pleasant Ridge shopping center, where Roberson's is located, while four masked men stormed into the store, smashed diamond cases and gathered the contents while holding two employees and a customer at gunpoint.

A video of the robbery taken by cameras in the store was played at the March trial of two accused accomplices, allowing jurors to hear the screams of female employees who were surprised by the robbers just before lunchtime on an otherwise mundane Tuesday.

The robbers were in and out of the store within 50 seconds, and no one was hurt. But U.S. District Judge Leon Holmes said the victims were "terrorized" and that in slightly different circumstances, the dramatic event could have easily resulted in someone's death, either from a gunshot or a heart attack.

Although the four men's identities were disguised by masks and the case remained unsolved for several months, the suspects were eventually tracked to Oklahoma by a tiny piece of DNA retrieved from a ball cap that fell off the head of the diamond grabber as he jumped under the covered bed of a getaway pickup behind the store.

That robber, Tony Eugene Gabriel, 49, was among four suspects who eventually pleaded guilty. Two other men were tried but acquitted, largely because defense attorneys argued they couldn't be identified on store cameras and could have been falsely included by the others solely to negotiate deals with federal prosecutors.

Holmes noted Thursday at an hourlong sentencing hearing that Kirk and Darryl Dayon Madden, also known as "Disco," appeared to have been the main organizers of the robbery. They, Gabriel and Siee Ramon Russell all pleaded guilty and agree to testify for the government at trial.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Erin O'Leary asked Holmes to sentence Kirk within the penalty range suggested by federal sentencing guidelines -- 87 to 108 months -- citing the violent nature of the crime and his extensive criminal history dating back to 1984, including convictions stemming from a 1999 bank robbery.

Defense attorney Jordan Tinsley of Little Rock argued that Kirk is getting older and less likely to commit crimes, has employable skills, has three young daughters and is required to jointly repay about $335,000 with the others convicted in the robbery, noting, "That restitution obligation is like a life sentence for him."

Tinsley requested a below-guidelines sentence of 72 months, or six years. While Holmes rejected Tinsley's arguments for a reduced sentence, he nevertheless gave Kirk an even lower sentence because he agreed to cooperate with the government and "gave significant, very useful testimony in open court that I believe was true."

Referring to the defense attorney's argument that Kirk should receive a lesser sentence because he owes a large amount of restitution, Holmes told Tinsley, "That is not a winning argument."

He sentenced Kirk to 61 months, and said the amount of restitution will eventually be lowered from $335,095 to account for the store's recovery of three sets of diamond earrings shortly before the trial.

In October, Madden was sentenced to 100 months in prison, or a little more than eight years, largely because of an extensive criminal history. Gabriel was sentenced in late March to just under three years, and Russell is serving seven years. Jurors acquitted suspected accomplices Darris Denton and Quinshod Shaw.

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Metro on 06/08/2018

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