Paris court convicts eight in 2016 robbery of Kim Kardashian

Paris: Eight people were found guilty by a court in Paris on Friday in connection with a brazen robbery against Kim Kardashian nearly a decade ago.

Kardashian, 44, a reality TV star and entrepreneur, was gagged, bound with zip ties and robbed at gunpoint of jewellry worth millions of dollars at a luxury residence she had rented during Paris Fashion Week in October 2016.

Seven men and one woman were convicted on charges ranging from direct involvement in the robbery to complicity in it. The court sentenced them to three to eight years in prison — far less than what the prosecution had requested — with the sentences mostly or entirely suspended. Counting time already served, none of the defendants will return to prison.

“The sentences are fairly lenient,” David De Pas, the presiding judge, acknowledged as he read the ruling, citing the advanced age and health issues of many of the defendants, as well as their good behavior over the past nine years, as the main reasons. Even so, he added, “you did harm.”

The court — three judges and a six-person jury — cleared two other defendants of involvement in the robbery, including Gary Madar, the brother of Kardashian’s driver at the time of the heist. Prosecutors had accused them of giving the robbers information about Kardashian’s schedule.

Reporters had nicknamed the main suspects in the case the “grandpa robbers” — a group of grizzled criminals, most of whom are now in their 60s and 70s, who were accused of staging one of the most daring celebrity heists in France’s recent history.

Kardashian, who did not attend Friday’s hearing, testified this month that she had feared for her life during the robbery and that it had pushed her to sharply upgrade her private security and to scale back the amount of personal, real-time information that she posted online.

Her lawyers said she was satisfied with the court’s ruling.

“I am deeply grateful to the French authorities for pursuing justice in this case,” Kardashian said in a statement. “The crime was the most terrifying experience of my life, leaving a lasting impact on me and my family. While I’ll never forget what happened, I believe in the power of growth and accountability and pray for healing for all.”

Kardashian, who completed a legal apprenticeship this week that makes her eligible to take the California bar exam, has campaigned for prison reform.

Most of her stolen jewelry, including a $4 million diamond engagement ring from her husband at the time, was not recovered. It was estimated to be worth at least 8 million euros (about $9 million). The final estimate is unclear, but Kardashian told the court the insurance payout she received was about $6 million.

Of the 10 defendants — eight men ages 35 to 72 and one woman age 79 — only two had acknowledged their involvement.

One was Aomar Aït Khedache, 69, whose DNA was found at the scene and who was found guilty of masterminding the robbery by recruiting accomplices, giving orders and arranging to sell the stolen diamonds in Belgium. The court sentenced him to eight years in prison, with most of that suspended.

Khedache’s son, who acted as a driver but did not take part in the robbery, was sentenced to five years in prison, with most of it suspended. Khedache’s former partner, who was accused of helping the robbers communicate covertly, received a fully suspended four-year sentence.

The other defendant who acknowledged his role was Yunice Abbas, 72, who acted as a lookout. He was sentenced to seven years in prison, with most of that suspended.

The prosecution argued that the defendants were not harmless retirees and that they had carefully prepared their heist, showing no empathy for Kardashian or for the residence’s night watchman, who was forced to lead the robbers to her.

“Today, they are being presented as small-time crooks,” Anne-Dominique Merville, the prosecutor in the case, said this week. But they were “seasoned robbers” with extensive criminal records, she said, as she told the court not to trust the defendants’ “reassuring wrinkles.”

Lawyers for the oldest defendants had countered that there was no risk of their committing further crimes, and that forcing the men to spend the rest of their lives behind bars was unnecessarily cruel given their ailments.

Stenographers transcribed the court proceedings on a screen for Khedache, who has a severe hearing impairment and who hobbled through the courthouse’s marble hallways with a cane.

Abbas’ hands shook from Parkinson’s disease when he spoke in court. Another defendant, Didier Dubreucq, 69, was absent from court several times to undergo chemotherapy for cancer. One person charged in the case had died, and another was too ill to be tried.

De Pas said the court had found that it would be “ethically” wrong to send those convicted back to prison with major health issues, however serious their actions.

The court, he said, “was not indifferent to the time that has passed.”