PROVIDENCE –– A Pawtucket man pleaded guilty Monday to robbing a sales clerk and customer at gunpoint at an antiques shop in the Pawtuxet Village section of Cranston last year.

Authorities said the plea could be the first step toward resolving a string of armed robberies and murders that shook the state last June.

Superior Court Judge Robert D. Krause sentenced Raymond Clements, 24, to 35 years in prison, with 15 years to serve at the Adult Correctional Institutions and 20 years suspended with probation.

Clements’ alleged co-conspirator in the robbery, Anthony J. Carter, 23, of Pawtucket, still faces charges in connection with the case, six other armed robberies and the killing of two Providence women — Heather Jesus, 20, and her cousin, Amanda Sousa, 17, at Jesus’ Silver Lake apartment on June 14.

Carter is in jail in Florida, where he is serving a 55-year sentence for 10 armed robberies he committed in Polk and Hillsborough counties last June.

Attorney General Patrick C. Lynch has begun extradition procedures to try Carter in Rhode Island on the armed robbery and murder charges.

If Carter is extradited, it could mean more trouble for Clements.

Police have charged the pair in the Jesus and Sousa killings and a grand jury has gone a step further with Carter –– indicting him on two counts of first-degree murder.

Michael J. Healey, spokesman for the attorney general’s office, said the state is waiting for Carter’s return before pursuing a formal grand jury indictment of Clements.

He said authorities believe that Carter and Clements killed Jesus, who was almost three months pregnant, and Sousa and then set the apartment on fire to destroy evidence.

Healey declined to discuss a possible motive in the case. But the police have indicated that the suspects and victims were acquaintances.

Lynch said the plea in the Cranston robberies is but a first step in resolving the broader portfolio of cases.

“For two days last June, Raymond Clements and his alleged co-conspirator terrorized our community, destroying families and leaving pain and misery in their paths,” he said in a statement. “With this conviction in hand, we will now turn our attention to returning Anthony Carter to Rhode Island and prosecuting the murder charges against him and Clements to the fullest extent of the law.”

Clements admitted in his guilty plea that he joined with Carter to rob Village Art and Antiques, at 2145 Broad St. in Cranston, on June 13, 2007.

He said the pair robbed a female employee and male customer at gunpoint, stealing more than $200 from the clerk’s pocketbook and taking $500 and a Swiss Army watch from the customer.

Clements, who turned himself in to Providence police on June 29, was sentenced on two counts of first-degree robbery, one count of conspiracy to commit robbery and one count of using a firearm while committing a crime of violence.

In exchange for his plea, the state dismissed a count of possessing a firearm without a license.

dscharfe@projo.com