Eight defendants have been convicted of crimes linked to the 2016 theft of actuality TV star Kim Kardashian almost 10 years after the high-profile heist.
In accordance to NBC Information, two of the ten defendants have been acquitted on fees of planning and finishing up the armed theft throughout Paris Vogue Week 9 years in the past.
A courtroom within the French capital determined the decision within the trial of the “grandpa robbers” accused of stealing hundreds of thousands of {dollars} of Kardashian’s jewellery.
The theft was thought-about the most important heist focusing on a person that Paris had seen in many years. The jury of six residents carried out the trial, together with three magistrates — a process in France reserved for probably the most severe 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 lady stood accused of finishing up or aiding the crime, when the robbers, dressed as police, pressured their manner into the glamorous Hôtel de Pourtalès, sure Kardashian with zip ties and escaped with $6 million price of her jewellery.
After delivering remaining statements in courtroom, 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 probably the most severe fees bought 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 exterior the Palais De Justice on April 28, 2025 in Paris, France.
Pierre Suu/Getty Pictures
Kardashian issued an announcement after the ruling was introduced.
“I’m deeply grateful to the French authorities for pursuing justice on this case,” she mentioned. “The crime was probably the most terrifying expertise of my life, leaving a long-lasting affect 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 through the escape, was the one piece of knickknack ever recovered.
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Khedache mentioned 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 advised The Related Press.
“I do recognize the letter, I forgive you,” Kardashian advised Khedache. “However it doesn’t change the sentiments and the trauma and the truth that my life was without end modified.”
Kardashian testified on Could 13 in a packed Paris courthouse and advised the jury that she thought she was going to be sexually assaulted through the 2016 heist.
“I used to be sure that was the second that he was going to rape me,” she advised a Paris courtroom Tuesday. “I completely did assume I used to be going to die.”
Kardashian, who was tearful at instances, mentioned she was preparing for mattress when she heard loud footsteps ascending the steps to her lodge room, telling the courtroom that initially she thought it was her sister Kourtney and a buddy 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 advised the courtroom.
“Truthfully, numerous terrorist assaults have been occurring on this planet, and I assumed it was some type of terrorist assault, and I didn’t instantly perceive it was for my jewellery.”
This courtroom 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 Courtroom for the trial over the 2016 theft.
AFP) (Photograph by BENOIT PEYRUCQ/AFP through Getty Pictures
She mentioned the suspects arrived at her lodge dressed as law enforcement officials 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 mentioned, ‘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 mentioned, the place they taped her mouth and advised 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 mentioned 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 advised the courtroom.
“[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.”
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 worth of fame in addition to the dangers of dwelling 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 crew 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 together with her mom Kris Jenner (R) the Assize Courtroom after testifying in a trial over the 2016 theft that noticed her relieved of hundreds of thousands of {dollars}’ price of knickknack at gunpoint in Paris, on Could 13, 2025.
LEO VIGNAL/AFP through Getty Pictures
One of many suspects in the armed theft mentioned he regrets the “trauma” he induced Kardashian almost 9 years later.
Defendant Yunice Abbas mentioned this was the primary time he really acknowledged the “trauma” he induced Kardashian, because the trial started on April 29 within the proceedings towards 10 individuals charged in reference to the 2016 theft.
“I remorse it, not as a result of I bought caught, however as a result of … there was a trauma,” Abbas, 72, advised 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 Courtroom of Paris, on April 28, 2025.
MAGALI COHEN/Hans Lucas/AFP through Getty Pictures
Abbas was the primary of a number of defendants set to testify within the trial and had beforehand confessed to his function within the crime in his 2021 e-book, titled I Kidnapped Kim Kardashian, which got here up through the testimony.
He claimed that he was not accountable for the title of the e-book and he mentioned he was not concerned in tying up Kardashian through the theft, in accordance with NBC Information.
Abbas mentioned he acted as a lookout on the reception space on the bottom ground, making certain the escape route was clear. He mentioned he was unarmed and didn’t personally threaten Kardashian, however acknowledged he shared accountability 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, known as the “grandpa robbers” in native media resulting from their ages, are alleged to have performed totally different roles within the heist.
In accordance with Abbas, minutes after the raid began, his accomplices got here down from Kardashian’s house and gave him a bag of knickknack.
As he was fleeing the scene on a bicycle, he noticed a police automotive, however officers weren’t but conscious of the theft. Abbas mentioned 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 mentioned.
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 identification on the time of the theft.
Twelve individuals have been initially anticipated within the defendants’ field. One has died and one other is severely in poor health and may’t be tried. In accordance with the investigation, 5 of the ten defendants have been current on the scene of the theft
— With information from World Information’ Rachel Goodman and The Related Press
