Kesia Quinette Jackson Sentenced in 5-County Robbery Spree

Kesia Quinette Jackson, 46, of Atlanta, Georgia, has been sentenced to 21 years and three months in federal prison for orchestrating an 11-count armed robbery spree that terrorized metro-Atlanta businesses from 2014 to 2015. Targeting seven Wal-Mart stores and multiple gas stations across DeKalb, Gwinnett, Cobb, Clayton, and Forsyth Counties, Jackson led a crew that stalked, surveilled, and struck with military precision—leaving employees bloodied, customers shaken, and communities on edge.

According to U.S. Attorney Byung J. “BJay” Pak, Jackson wasn’t just involved—she was the architect. ‘Jackson led a robbery crew that terrorized business employees, shoppers, and citizens during a crime spree,’ Pak said. ‘She and her crew calculated their robberies and helped drive violence and fear in multiple counties.’ The sentence includes five years of supervised release and restitution of $62,315.95. Jackson pleaded guilty on November 10, 2016.

The FBI says Jackson cased each location days before the heists, often captured on surveillance video talking on her cell phone, scouting exits, and timing employee shifts. Between 10:00 p.m. and midnight, her crew struck. Deanthony Foster, the gunman, entered stores wearing a surgical mask, brandishing a firearm, and forcing cashiers to empty registers. During the final robbery, Foster fired a shot near employees who hesitated—no one was hit, but the message was clear: compliance or bullets.

It wasn’t just Wal-Marts. On February 3, 2014, Jackson’s crew hit a Gwinnett County gas station. She was inside casing the joint moments before the robbery. Within 24 hours, robbery proceeds landed in her personal bank account. On June 2, 2014, they struck again—this time in DeKalb County—where a co-defendant shot an employee in the leg. Jackson had again entered the store ahead of the attack, scouting vulnerabilities.

Additional convictions stem from three more gas station robberies—August 27, September 21, and October 26, 2015—in Cobb and DeKalb Counties. In one, a worker was shot. Jackson’s leadership role in planning, funding, and executing these attacks sealed her fate. ‘For nearly two years Jackson led a robbing crew that rained terror on innocent victims,’ said FBI Atlanta’s Special Agent in Charge David J. LeValley. ‘They won’t be able to traumatize any more innocent people.’

Co-defendants have already been sentenced: gunman Deanthony Foster got 32 years; lookout Eric Lamar Ross received five years. The case was investigated by the FBI with critical support from Cobb County Police, DeKalb County Police, Gwinnett County Police, Hapeville, Roswell, Riverdale, Dunwoody, and Forsyth County Sheriff’s Office. The collaboration dismantled a crew that treated metro Atlanta like its personal bank vault—until the feds turned the tables.