Gretna man faces life in prison after jury convicts him for aggravated kidnapping and armed robbery at a Chalmette pharmacy; Three others including a former store employee await trial

A Gretna man faces life in prison after a jury convicted him at trial for aggravated kidnapping and armed robbery at a Chalmette pharmacy last Aug. 25. Three others including a former store employee await trial.

Ben Amos, 28, who has been jailed in lieu of $500,000 bond since his arrest outside a Walgreens at Judge Perez Drive at Paris Road after the crimes, was convicted Wednesday by a jury of three counts of aggravated kidnapping of a store customer and two employees taken into a back room during the robbery, one count of armed robbery and two counts of attempted armed robbery.

The jury was out about two hours Wednesday afternoon after a two-day trial presided over by state District Judge Jeanne Juneau. Amos contended he was forced into the robbery by one of the others.

Amos faces an automatic sentence of life in prison on the aggravated kidnapping convictions and will be sentenced June 17 by Judge Juneau.

Sheriff James Pohlmann applauded the conviction and upcoming life sentence for Amos, saying, “It sends the message we want out there that if people choose violence there will be a harsh penalty for them to pay when they are caught. Without a phone call during the robbery and quick response by deputies this would have turned into a hostage situation or worse.’’

A store employee secretly called the Sheriff’s Office while the robbery was in process about 4:30 a.m. and responding deputies caught Amos and Leonard Gibson, 43, at the scene. A third person, a woman who worked at the pharmacy and lived in Chalmette with Gibson, was arrested the next day for allegedly helping plan and orchestrate the robbery and a fourth person, the alleged getaway driver, was arrested several days later.

Gibson, getaway driver John Wilson and former employee Quinita “Peaches’’ Harris, are all jailed awaiting trial.
No one was injured and the only item stolen was a cell phone from an employee, which was recovered. Two guns, two bandanas they wore over their faces, gloves and wraps they were using to try to tie up the victims were also recovered, Sheriff Pohlmann said.
The car used in the getaway vehicle was found at the home of Harris and Gibson in Chalmette.