Jackson man sentenced to more than 22 years in prison for brandishing a firearm during grocery store robberies

A Jackson man was sentenced to 274 months in federal prison for brandishing a firearm during two grocery store robberies and was ordered to pay $5,105 in restitution.

According to court documents and confessions during open court hearings, 35-year-old Kenneth Edwards Lewis Jr., along with his co-defendant Tramaine Jadell Pettaway, used a firearm when they robbed two convenience stores in January and February 2018. One store was in Clinton and the other was in Ridgeland. Ridgeland police were able to arrest both Lewis and Pettaway after a short chase following the robbery in Ridgeland.

Lewis and Pettaway, who has also pleaded guilty and is awaiting sentencing, have been in custody since February 2018.

The announcement was made by U.S. Attorney Todd W. Gee of the Southern District of Mississippi and Special Agent in Charge Robert Eikhoff of the FBI.

The Ridgeland and Clinton police departments and the FBI investigated the case.

Deputy Chief of Detectives Lynn Murray and Assistant U.S. Attorney Charles Kirkham prosecuted the case.

This case was prosecuted as part of the joint federal, state, and local Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) program, the centerpiece of the Department of Justice's violent crime reduction efforts. PSN is an evidence-based program proven effective in reducing violent crime. Under PSN, a broad range of stakeholders work together to identify the most pressing violent crime problems in the community and develop comprehensive solutions to address them. As part of this strategy, PSN focuses its law enforcement efforts on the most violent offenders and partners with locally based prevention and reintegration programs to achieve sustainable crime reductions.