Kim Kardashian's Paris robbery case ends with guilty verdict for eight defendants
The ringleader and seven other robbers, who were involved in stealing $6 million worth of jewelry from Kim Kardashian in her Paris hotel room on Oct. 3, 2016, have been found guilty.
"I am deeply grateful to the French authorities for pursuing justice in this case. The crime was the most terrifying experience of my life, leaving a lasting impact on me and my family," Kardashian shared in a statement with Fox News Digital.
"While I'll never forget what happened, I believe in the power of growth and accountability and pray for healing for all. I remain committed to advocating for justice, and promoting a fair legal system."
On Friday, a court in the French capital acquitted two of the 10 defendants. The sentences read out by the court president ranged from prison terms to fines.
Aomar Aït Khedache, 69, the ringleader, was sentenced to eight years of imprisonment. Five of those years were suspended. Three others who were accused on the most serious charges got seven years. Five of those years were suspended.
With time already served in pretrial detention, none of those found guilty will go to prison. The trial was heard by a three-judge panel and six jurors.
Chief Judge David De Pas ruled that the ages of the defendants — the oldest is 79 and some others are in their 60s and 70s — weighed in the court's decision not to impose harsher sentences that would have sent them to jail. He said the nine years between the robbery and the trial were also taken into account in the sentencing.
"Kim appreciates the Court's decision and once again thanks the French authorities for treating her with great respect throughout the process," Kardashian's legal team shared in a statement with Fox News Digital.
"It has been a long journey from that terrible night back in 2016 to her standing courageously in a historic Paris courtroom to confront these criminals. She looks forward to putting this tragic episode behind her, as she continues working to improve the criminal justice system on behalf of victims, the innocent, and the incarcerated seeking to redeem themselves."
Nine men and one woman were involved in the crime during Paris Fashion Week. The robbers, dressed as police, forced their way into the glamorous Hôtel de Pourtalès, bound Kardashian with zip ties, placed her in the bathtub and escaped with her jewelry.
Her $4 million engagement ring, from her then-husband Kanye West, was among the items stolen.
The ten criminals involved delivered their final statements in court before the verdict was reached.
Among them was the ringleader Khedache, who arrived in court walking with a stick and his face hidden from cameras. Prosecutors had asked for a 10-year sentence.
His DNA, found on the bands used to bind Kardashian, 44, was a key breakthrough that helped crack open the case. Wiretaps captured him giving orders, recruiting accomplices and arranging to sell the diamonds in Belgium.
A diamond-encrusted cross, dropped during the escape, was the only piece of jewelry ever recovered.
Khedache argued he was only a foot soldier in the high-profiled case. He blamed a mysterious "X" or "Ben" — someone prosecutors say never existed.
His lawyer pleaded for clemency, as he pointed to Kardashian's encounter with his client in court.
"She looked at him when she came, she listened to the letter he had written to her, and then she forgave him," lawyer Franck Berton told The Associated Press.
Although Kardashian wasn't present in court on Friday, the SKIMS founder had locked eyes with Khedache during her testimony on Tuesday, as the letter was read aloud.
"I do appreciate the letter, I forgive you," she said. "But it doesn't change the feelings and the trauma and the fact that my life was forever changed."
On Friday, Khedache asked for "a thousand pardons," communicated via a written note in court. Other defendants also used their final words to express remorse.
As "The Kardashians" star sat on the witness stand earlier this week, she said the robbery marked what she thought would be the last day of her life.
"I was certain that was the moment that he was going to rape me," she said during her testimony. "I absolutely did think I was going to die."
Kardashian, who thanked the French authorities for "allowing me to share my truth," told the court she recalled screaming to the robbers at the time of the intrusion, "I have babies."
"[Kim] has tremendous appreciation and admiration for the French judicial system and has been treated with great respect by the French authorities," Kardashian's attorney, Michael Rhodes, said in a statement to Fox News Digital ahead of the trial. "She wishes for the trial to proceed in an orderly fashion in accordance with French law and with respect for all parties to the case."
The mom of four, who was accompanied by her mom Kris Jenner on Tuesday, testified against a group known as the "grandpa robbers" due to their age. More than 17 people were arrested as suspects in connection to the case after investigators found trace amounts of DNA on plastic bands tied around Kardashian's wrists. The case was finally ordered to go to trial in 2021 with 12 people charged.
Kardashian didn't return to Paris for nearly two years after the attack.
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On June 4, 2020, Braunschweig state prosecutor Wolters said, via Reuters, "We assume that the girl is dead. The public prosecutor's office in Braunschweig is investigating a 43-year-old German national on suspicion of murder." Wolters told the BBC days later, "We have evidence against the accused which leads us to believe that he really killed Madeleine but this evidence is not strong enough at the moment to take him to court." The prosecutor said the evidence was "strong enough to say that the girl is dead and strong enough to accuse a specific individual of murder—that strong." But, Wolter added, "One has to be honest and remain open to the possibility that our investigation could end without a charge, that it ends like the others have. We are optimistic it will be different for us but for that we need more information." To this day, the Metropolitan Police still classify the investigation into Madeleine's disappearance as a missing persons case. 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And especially when you've got other children involved." "I think before Madeleine was taken, we felt we had managed to achieve a little perfect nuclear family of five," added Gerry, with a small smile. He cleared his throat. "And we had that for a short adapt and you have a new normality and, unfortunately for us, our new normality at the minute is a family of four." (Originally published June 17, 2020, at 7 a.m. PT) Robert Murat—a British national who lived not far from the Ocean Club and had volunteered to aid in the search for Madeleine when she first went missing—ended up winning upward of $750,000 in defamation damages from four U.K. media groups for coverage in their newspapers that strongly insinuated he was guilty of something. "It is hard to describe how utterly despairing it was to be named arguidos and subsequently portrayed in the media as suspects in our own daughter's abduction," Kate said at a news conference when she and her husband were officially cleared. "It has been equally devastating to witness the detrimental effect this status has had on the search for Madeleine."Local authorities conducted a sweeping raid in Portugal on dozens of properties linked to around 80 suspected pedophiles in 2007, but "Operation Predator," as it was called, did not result in any substantive leads in the McCann case. In 2012, Scotland Yard said it had identified 38 persons of interest in the case, including 12 Britons. By October 2013 it was 41, including 15 British nationals. Tips came in from all over the world, as did alleged sightings of Madeleine from as far away as India and New Zealand. In 2014, Metropolitan Police announced "a potential linked series of 12 crimes which occurred between 2004 and a male access to mainly holiday villas occupied by U.K. families on holiday in the western Algarve." NBC News reported in March 2014 that police were asking for the public's help identifying the perpetrator, whom they described as "having an interest in young white girls." Detectives said that in four of the cases being investigated, the man was believed to have sexually assaulted five girls between the ages of 7 and 10 years old while they were in their beds. The suspect was further described as "tan, with messy short dark hair," and he spoke English with a foreign accent. Prosecutors in the German city of Stade said in June 2020 that the newly announced suspect was also being investigated in connection with the 2015 disappearance of 5-year-old girl—identified as Inga G.—from the woods outside a family party being held in the town of Stendal, about 60 miles west of Berlin. "It is being assessed whether there is a connection between the two cases," a spokesperson for the prosecutors' office said. Though the update was disturbing, a spokesperson for the McCann family told NBC News at the time it also felt like the most "significant" development in the case to date. "This is the only time in 13 years that police have been so specific about a suspect, down to the phone numbers, vehicles and particularly with a known individual," said Clarence Mitchell, a former BBC reporter who for awhile was the McCanns' full-time representative and still serves as a spokesman for the family. Gerry and Kate "were coping as best as they can but want the focus to remain on the police investigation," Mitchell said, adding, "They still remain hopeful." Kate told Sky News in 2017, "You don't realize how strong you are until you have no option, and I think that's very true. Obviously massive events like this cause a lot of reaction, a lot of trauma and upset, but ultimately you have to keep going. And especially when you've got other children involved." "I think before Madeleine was taken, we felt we had managed to achieve a little perfect nuclear family of five," added Gerry, with a small smile. He cleared his throat. "And we had that for a short adapt and you have a new normality and, unfortunately for us, our new normality at the minute is a family of four." (Originally published June 17, 2020, at 7 a.m. PT) For the latest breaking news updates, click here to download the E! News App
