The accused 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.
On Friday, a court in the French capital decided the ringleader and seven other people involved in the high-profile case were guilty of the charges against them. The court acquitted two of the 10 defendants. The sentences being read out by the court president range from prison terms to fines.
Nine men and a woman were accused of being involved in the crime during Paris Fashion Week. The robbers, dressed as police, allegedly 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 alleged criminals involved delivered their final statements in court before the verdict was reached.
Among them was Aomar Aït Khedache, 69, the alleged ringleader, who arrived in court walking with a stick and his face hidden from cameras. Prosecutors have 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.
KIM KARDASHIAN’S FAME COULD SWAY JURY IN PARIS ROBBERY TRIAL AGAINST ‘GRANDPA ROBBERS’: EXPERT
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.
CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR THE ENTERTAINMENT NEWSLETTER
“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.”
LIKE WHAT YOU’RE READING? CLICK HERE FOR MORE ENTERTAINMENT NEWS
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.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
Kardashian didn’t return to Paris for nearly two years after the attack.
Fox News Digital’s Christina Dugan Ramirez contributed to this report.
