Here we see Cory James Jackson and Melissa Ann Maxwell as they committed an armed robbery of the “Oregon Bud Company”, on the southwest corner of S.E. Chavez Blvd. and Holgate in the Reed Neighborhood. (Surveillance video extracted by David F. Ashton)

We’re following up on a story that started in 2023 with a string of armed robberies of marijuana dispensaries in Inner Southeast Portland. Early in 2024, THE BEE reported that Portland Police Bureau (PPB) Robbery Unit detectives had announced they were looking for 43-year-old Cory James Jackson in connection to the crimes.

Although Jackson wore a mask, and was thinly disguised, surveillance videos at each location showed him brandishing a gun as he robbed two marijuana stores in the Reed neighborhood, and one in the Ardenwald-Johnson Creek neighborhood.

Then, during a PPB Stolen Vehicle Operation in North Portland on May 21, 2024, Vancouver Police Department officers notified Portland Police that Jackson was, right then, driving south into Oregon on I-5. The PPB officers, who were in the Jantzen Beach area, located Jackson in a retail store – evacuated the business – and took him into custody “without incident”.

Jackson was booked into the Multnomah County Detention Center (MCDC) the next morning on “multiple warrants” – 46 of them, in total! – in connection with numerous armed robberies and other crimes, including such Felony charges as Kidnapping in the First Degree. He has been held since that time, in lieu of $240,000 combined bail – as well as on a US Marshall’s Office Hold – at Inverness Jail.

Finally, in Multnomah County District Court one year later, on this past May 29th, Jackson took advantage of a plea deal, and pleaded guilty. He next will be sentenced July 9th.

His accomplice, 45-year-old Melissa Ann Maxwell, who also pleaded guilty to multiple charges back in April, was sentenced to a total of 20 years in prison.