A Paris court has found eight people guilty over the violent armed robbery of Kim Kardashian in 2016, but none will face prison time.
The reality TV star was tied up at gunpoint in her Paris hotel and robbed of $13 million worth of jewellery.
Ten people were on trial for playing a role in the burglary. They faced a variety of charges including armed robbery and "kidnap in an organised gang". The court acquitted two of the 10 defendants.
Ringleader Aomar Aït Khedache, also known as "Omar the Old", was handed the longest sentence — eight years' jail, with five years suspended.
Three others who were accused on the most serious charges got seven years, five of them suspended.
With time already served in pre-trial detention, none of those found guilty will go to prison.
The trial was heard by a three-judge panel and six jurors.
The chief judge, David De Pas, said the ages of the defendants — the oldest was 79 and some others were in their 60s and 70s — weighed on the court's decision not to impose harsher sentences that would have sent them to jail.
He said the nine-year gap between the robbery and the trial was also taken into account in the sentencing.
Still, he said that Kardashian had been traumatised by the robbery in her hotel.
"You caused harm," he said. "You caused fear."
Kardashian — who testified that she thought she would die during the ordeal — was not at the court to hear the verdict.
She issued a statement in which she said 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."
'Grandpa robbers'
The case has gathered international attention, with the burglars claiming they were initially unaware of who Kardashian was.
The crime took place on the night of October 2, 2016, during Paris Fashion Week.
The robbers, dressed as police, forced their way into the glamorous Hôtel de Pourtalès, bound Kardashian with zip ties and escaped with her jewellery — a theft that would force celebrities to rethink how they live and protect themselves.
They became known as "les papys braqueurs", "the grandpa robbers" due to their ages. Some arrived in court in orthopaedic shoes and Khedache leaned on a cane.
But prosecutors warned observers not to be fooled, and the chief prosecutor slammed that nickname as an "insult" during her closing arguments.
She instead described them as seasoned armed robbers with links to organised crime.
Khedache's 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.
A diamond-encrusted cross, dropped during the escape, was the only piece of jewellery ever recovered.
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 out that when Kardashian, during her testimony, had faced the man accused of orchestrating her ordeal, she had forgiven him.
"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.
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."
Khedache, communicating via a written note in court, asked for "a thousand pardons" on Friday.
Other defendants also used their final words to express remorse.
Paris no longer a sanctuary for Kardashian
Earlier this month, Kardashian told a packed courtroom she had been thrown onto a bed, zip-tied and had a gun pressed to her on the night of the robbery.
"I absolutely did think I was going to die," she said. "I have babies. I have to make it home. They can take everything. I just have to make it home."
She was dragged into a marble bathroom and told to stay silent. When the robbers fled, she freed herself by scraping the tape on her wrists off against the sink, then hid with her friend, shaking and barefoot.
She said Paris had once been her sanctuary — a city she would wander at 3am, window shopping and stopping for hot chocolate — but that illusion was now shattered.
The robbery echoed far beyond the City of Light, forcing a recalibration of celebrity behaviour in the age of Instagram.
For years, Kardashian had curated her life like a showroom: geo-tagged, diamond-lit, public by design.
But this was the moment the showroom turned into a crime scene. In her words: "People were watching … They knew where I was."
Afterwards, she stopped posting her location in real time. She stripped her social media feed of lavish gifts and vanished from Paris for years. Other stars followed suit. Privacy became luxury.
Even by the standards of France's famously deliberate legal system, the case took years to reach trial.
AP/ABC
