Eight defendants have been convicted of crimes related to the 2016 theft of actuality TV star Kim Kardashian almost 10 years after the high-profile heist.
In response to NBC Information, two of the ten defendants have been acquitted on prices of planning and finishing up the armed theft throughout Paris Vogue Week 9 years in the past.
A court docket within the French capital determined the decision within the trial of the “grandpa robbers” accused of stealing tens of millions of {dollars} of Kardashian’s jewellery.
The theft was thought of the most important heist focusing on a person that Paris had seen in a long time. The jury of six residents carried out the trial, together with three magistrates — a process in France reserved for essentially the most critical crimes.
The panel of three judges and 6 jurors wanted a majority vote of seven to succeed in a call. Kardashian wasn’t current Friday for the decision, which was reached shortly after 8 p.m. native time or 2 p.m. ET.
9 males and a girl stood accused of finishing up or aiding the crime, when the robbers, dressed as police, compelled their means into the glamorous Hôtel de Pourtalès, sure Kardashian with zip ties and escaped with $6 million price of her jewellery.
After delivering ultimate statements in court docket, the defendants have been dismissed Friday morning, with a verdict lastly being delivered by the afternoon.
Aomar Aït Khedache, the alleged ringleader, was sentenced to eight years imprisonment however 5 of these are suspended.
Three others who have been accused on essentially the most critical prices obtained seven years, 5 of them suspended. With time already served in pretrial detention, none of these discovered responsible will go to jail, in accordance with The Related Press.
Defendant Aomar Aït Khedache is seen outdoors the Palais De Justice on April 28, 2025 in Paris, France.
Pierre Suu/Getty Photos
Kardashian issued a press release after the ruling was introduced.
“I’m deeply grateful to the French authorities for pursuing justice on this case,” she stated. “The crime was essentially the most terrifying expertise of my life, leaving a long-lasting impression on me and my household. Whereas I’ll always remember what occurred, I imagine within the energy of development and accountability and pray for therapeutic for all. I stay dedicated to advocating for justice, and selling a good authorized system.”
Khedache’s DNA, discovered on the bands used to bind Kardashian, was a key breakthrough that helped crack open the case. Wiretaps captured him giving orders, recruiting accomplices and arranging to promote the diamonds in Belgium. A diamond-encrusted cross, dropped in the course of the escape, was the one piece of jewellery ever recovered.
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Khedache stated he was solely a foot soldier. He blamed a mysterious “X” or “Ben” — somebody prosecutors say by no means existed.
His lawyer pleaded for clemency, pointing to one of many trial’s most visceral moments — Kardashian’s earlier courtroom encounter with the person accused of orchestrating her ordeal.
“She checked out him when she got here, she listened to the letter he had written to her, after which she forgave him,” lawyer Franck Berton instructed The Related Press.
“I do admire the letter, I forgive you,” Kardashian instructed Khedache. “Nevertheless it doesn’t change the emotions and the trauma and the truth that my life was endlessly modified.”
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Kardashian testified on Could 13 in a packed Paris courthouse and instructed the jury that she thought she was going to be sexually assaulted in the course of the 2016 heist.
“I used to be sure that was the second that he was going to rape me,” she instructed a Paris court docket Tuesday. “I completely did suppose I used to be going to die.”
Kardashian, who was tearful at instances, stated she was preparing for mattress when she heard loud footsteps ascending the steps to her resort room, telling the court docket that initially she thought it was her sister Kourtney and a good friend coming back from a Paris Vogue Week occasion within the early hours of Oct. 3.
She recalled calling out to ask who was there earlier than masked males entered the room.
“I clearly was very confused. I needed to make sense of what was occurring. I used to be nearly to go to sleep, bare with a gown on,” she instructed the court docket.
“Actually, loads of terrorist assaults have been occurring on this planet, and I assumed it was some form of terrorist assault, and I didn’t instantly perceive it was for my jewellery.”
This court docket sketch made on Could 13, 2025 in Paris reveals US celeb Kim Kardashian (C), subsequent to co-accused Aomar Ait Khedache, testifying earlier than the Assize Court docket for the trial over the 2016 theft.
AFP) (Picture by BENOIT PEYRUCQ/AFP through Getty Photos
She stated the suspects arrived at her resort dressed as cops and held the concierge hostage. He was dragged into her room, handcuffed, in accordance with Kardashian.
One attacker started gesturing at her diamond ring.
“He stated, ‘Ring! Ring!’ and he pointed to his hand,” she recalled.
Kardashian grabbed her cellphone to name the police, however didn’t know the French emergency quantity. She then tried to contact her sister and bodyguard, however was stopped by one of many masked assailants.
The lads dragged her to the lavatory, she stated, the place they taped her mouth and instructed her she wouldn’t be harmed so long as she didn’t make any noise.
She recalled being dealt with aggressively by the suspects, however stated they didn’t hit her.
“I used to be not hit. No, I used to be grabbed, and dragged into the opposite room, and thrown onto the ground, however wasn’t hit, no,” she instructed the court docket.
“[The gun] was pointed in the direction of me to get me to go from room to room, and it was pointed towards me on the mattress on the finish.”
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Her testimony marked a long-awaited second in a trial that has captivated France and the broader world for nearly a decade, and reignited discussions in regards to the value of fame in addition to the dangers of residing within the public eye.
Kardashian was joined by her mom, Kris Jenner, within the closely guarded Parisian courtroom. Wearing black with $1.5 million price of diamonds draped round her neck — in accordance with a press launch her staff despatched to journalists on the trial, experiences The Related Press — her voice quivered as she thanked the French authorities for permitting her to “communicate my reality.””
US celeb Kim Kardashian (L) leaves along with her mom Kris Jenner (R) the Assize Court docket after testifying in a trial over the 2016 theft that noticed her relieved of tens of millions of {dollars}’ price of jewellery at gunpoint in Paris, on Could 13, 2025.
LEO VIGNAL/AFP through Getty Photos
One of many suspects in the armed theft stated he regrets the “trauma” he brought about Kardashian almost 9 years later.
Defendant Yunice Abbas stated this was the primary time he actually acknowledged the “trauma” he brought about Kardashian, because the trial started on April 29 within the proceedings towards 10 folks charged in reference to the 2016 theft.
“I remorse it, not as a result of I obtained caught, however as a result of … there was a trauma,” Abbas, 72, instructed the jury.
Defendant Yunice Abbas arrives for the beginning of the tria for the 2016 theft and kidnapping of US celeb Kim Kardashian on the Assize Court docket of Paris, on April 28, 2025.
MAGALI COHEN/Hans Lucas/AFP through Getty Photos
Abbas was the primary of a number of defendants set to testify within the trial and had beforehand confessed to his position within the crime in his 2021 guide, titled I Kidnapped Kim Kardashian, which got here up in the course of the testimony.
He claimed that he was not chargeable for the title of the guide and he stated he was not concerned in tying up Kardashian in the course of the theft, in accordance with NBC Information.
Abbas stated he acted as a lookout on the reception space on the bottom flooring, making certain the escape route was clear. He stated he was unarmed and didn’t personally threaten Kardashian, however acknowledged he shared duty for the crime.
He was arrested in January 2017 and spent 21 months in jail earlier than being launched beneath judicial supervision. Abbas and 9 others, referred to as the “grandpa robbers” in native media resulting from their ages, are alleged to have performed totally different roles within the heist.
In response to Abbas, minutes after the raid began, his accomplices got here down from Kardashian’s condominium and gave him a bag of jewellery.
As he was fleeing the scene on a bicycle, he noticed a police automotive, however officers weren’t but conscious of the theft. Abbas stated that as he rode the bicycle, the bag containing the jewellery grew to become caught within the entrance wheel and he fell to the bottom, spilling the contents of the bag.
“I picked the jewels up and left,” he stated.
The next morning, a passerby discovered a diamond-encrusted cross on the street and handed it to police. That was the one jewellery from the theft that was ever recovered.
Abbas claimed he didn’t know Kardashian’s id on the time of the theft.
Twelve folks have been initially anticipated within the defendants’ field. One has died and one other is critically in poor health and might’t be tried. In response to the investigation, 5 of the ten defendants have been current on the scene of the theft
— With recordsdata from World Information’ Rachel Goodman and The Related Press
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