Paris court finds 8 guilty in 2016 Kim Kardashian robbery, but none will face prison time

A Paris court on Friday found the ringleader and seven other people guilty in the robbery of Kim Kardashian at her residence in the French capital in 2016. But none of them will face prison time.

The court acquitted two of the 10 defendants. The sentences being read out by the court president range from prison terms to fines.

Aomar Aït Khedache, 69, the ringleader, got the stiffest sentence, eight years imprisonment, but five of those are suspended.

Three others who were accused on the most serious charges got seven years, five of them 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.

The chief judge, David De Pas, said the ages of the defendants - the oldest is 79 and some others are 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 years between the robbery and the trial was also taken into account in the sentencing.

Still, he said that Kardashian had been traumatized by the robbery in her hotel.

"You caused harm," he said. "You caused fear."

Kardashian, who wasn't present for the verdict, issued a statement after the ruling was announced.

"I am deeply grateful to the French authorities for pursuing justice in this case," she said. "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 arrived at court walking with a stick, his face hidden from cameras.

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.

A diamond-encrusted cross, dropped during the escape, was the only piece of jewelry ever recovered.

The crime took place on the night of Oct. 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 at gunpoint and escaped with her jewelry — a theft that would force celebrities to rethink how they live and protect themselves.

WATCH | Kim Kardashian arrives at Paris court:

Celebrity Kim Kardashian was seen entering a court in France on Tuesday to offer testimony against the men accused of robbing her at gunpoint in 2016.

The accused became known in France as "les papys braqueurs," or the grandpa robbers. Some arrived in court in orthopedic shoes and one leaned on a cane.

But prosecutors warned observers not to be fooled.

The defendants faced charges including armed robbery, kidnapping and gang association.

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," 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." 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.

Kardashian's testimony earlier this month was the emotional high point. In a packed courtroom, she recounted how she was 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 that Paris had once been her sanctuary — a city she would wander at 3 a.m., window shopping, stopping for hot chocolate. That illusion was shattered.

The robbery echoed far beyond the City of Light. It forced a recalibration of celebrity behaviour in the age of Instagram. For years, Kardashian had curated her life like a showroom: geotagged, 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."

Afterward, 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.