Four men charged in national cell phone crime ring

HOUSTON (KTRK) -- Four men are charged in a national cell phone crime ring that investigators say stretched from southeast Texas to Atlanta, GA.

The Harris County Sheriff's Office says they believe Jeremiah Palmer, 18; Kirk Jones, 20; Zachary Johnson, 17; and Anthony Nichols were part of a national robbery group responsible for a string of thefts in east Harris County, Beaumont, and the west Orange area.

Palmer and Jones are charged with aggravated robbery for the October 16 armed robbery of an AT&T store in the 2100 block of US 90. There they allegedly stole about $33,000 worth of merchandise.

Investigators say that Palmer and Johnson were also armed when they robbed the Verizon store in the 15300 block of Wallisville Road a few hours later.

Investigators say all four men demanded cash and merchandise, specifically targeting iPhone 6 and Android phones.

All four men are accused of being part of a crew that has robbed businesses in the east Houston area to southeast Texas. They allegedly have ties to a criminal enterprise in the Atlanta area that purchases stolen merchandise.

Harris County officials say the men netted more than $56,000 worth of phones in their robberies.

The Harris County Sheriff's Office says authorities in the Atlanta area recovered stolen phones from two of the suspects in an unrelated incident. Authorities say the phones and information on a stolen vehicle that was recovered in the east Harris county robberies broke the case for investigators.

All four suspects are in the Jefferson County Jail in Beaumont on aggravated robbery charges, awaiting extradition to Harris County.