Two men plead guilty in series of robberies

Two men have entered guilty pleas in connection with robberies at Ben Moss Jewellers, Raffi Jewellers and two at a CashMax store about a year ago.

Twenty-one-year-old Leon George Cunningham of Kitchener and 20-year-old Punchok Wangail of Waterloo each pleaded guilty to a number robbery-related of charges.

The string of robberies began Dec. 14, 2010, when a Cashmax Payday Loans location in Kitchener was robbed.

Then on Dec. 15, Ben Moss Jewellers in the Fairview Park Mall was robbed by three masked suspects carrying a machete and sledgehammer.

Raffi Jewellers at Conestoga Mall was targeted on Jan. 5, 2011, when four suspects smashed display cases and released pepper spray in the mall.

Three suspects were finally apprehended by Waterloo Region police after the same Cashmax location was targeted again on Jan. 27.

Cunningham and Wangail were remanded in custody and will be sentenced on March 28, 2012.

The preliminary hearing for a third suspect, Dhirmal Bharat Gohil, is also expected next year.

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  A Waterloo Regional police cruiser sits outside the Cashmax location that was robbed in Kitchener, Thursday, Jan. 27, 2011

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  Four suspects are seen during a robbery at Raffi Jewellers in the Conestoga Mall in this image taken from security video and provided by Waterloo Regional Police.

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  Suspects in the robbery of Ben Moss Jewellers at the Fairview Park Mall are seen in this image taken from security video.