A Paris court on Friday, May 23, found the ringleader and seven other people guilty in the 2016 armed robbery of Kim Kardashian, but decided to keep them out of jail for their roles in what she described as "the most terrifying experience of my life."
The chief judge, David De Pas, said that the defendants' ages − the oldest is 79 and some others are in their 60s and 70s − weighed on the court’s decision to impose sentences that he said "aren’t very severe." He said that the nine years between the robbery and the trial were also taken into account in not imposing harsher sentences. The court acquitted two of the 10 defendants.
Aomar Aït Khedache, 69, the ringleader, got the stiffest sentence: eight years imprisonment but five of those were suspended. Three others got seven years, five of them suspended. Three more got prison sentences ranging from five to three years, mostly or completely suspended, and an eighth person was found guilty on a weapons charge and fined.
With time already served in pretrial detention, none of those found guilty will go to prison and all walked out free. The trial was heard by a three-judge panel and six jurors. Still, the chief judge said that Kardashian had been traumatized by the October 2, 2016, robbery in her hotel during Fashion Week.
"You caused harm," the judge said. "You caused fear." Kardashian, who wasn't present for the verdict, said in a statement issued afterward that she was "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. 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."
Khedache's walking stick clicked on the courthouse's marble floors as he walked out free. His DNA, found 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 sell the diamonds in Belgium.
Khedache had said he was only a foot soldier. He blamed a mysterious "X" or "Ben" − someone prosecutors say never existed. His lawyer pleaded for clemency, pointing to one of the trial’s most visceral moments − Kardashian’s earlier courtroom encounter with the man accused of orchestrating her ordeal. Though she wasn't present Friday, her words − and the memory of that moment − still echoed.
"She looked at him when she came, she listened to the letter he had written to her, and then she forgave him," said lawyer Franck Berton. Kardashian, typically shielded by security and spectacle, had locked eyes with Khedache 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." A tabloid crime had become something raw and human.
Khedache on Friday asked for "a thousand pardons," communicated via a written note in court. Other defendants also used their final words to express remorse.