Two men connected to a brutal robbery of Manchester City’s Italy international goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma and his pregnant partner at their residence in Paris received prison sentences on Friday.
Donnarumma was brutally assaulted during the heist, while his then-fiancee, now wife, Alessia Elefante, was choked with a cable and later miscarried due to the shock of the crime.
The Paris Criminal Court condemned Ilyas Kherbouch, 21, the mastermind of the burglary, to nine years in prison and a fine of 80,000 euros ($92,000).
Co-defendant Moktar D. was sentenced to five years in jail, two of which were suspended and subject to probation.
Khyan M., the third defendant accused of coordinating the robbery from his jail cell, was acquitted.
Donnarumma, 27, and his partner Elefante were bound and threatened at knifepoint during the harrowing incident in their luxurious apartment on Avenue Montaigne in downtown Paris in July 2023, according to a judge in the French capital.
The Italian international was playing for Paris Saint-Germain when the burglary occurred. He joined Manchester City in 2025.
Prosecutors demanded prison sentences ranging from four to ten years for the three individuals accused of orchestrating or participating in the brutal burglary.
The highest term of ten years was sought for Kherbouch, also known as “Ganito,” who rose to prominence after his daring escape from Villepinte prison in Seine-Saint-Denis, north of Paris, in March.
Prosecutors sought nine- and six-year terms for Khyan M., 22, also known as “Kiki,” who, like Kherbouch, was suspected of orchestrating the brutal burglary from his jail cell, and Moktar D., one of the robbers.
Donnarumma and his fiancee were pulled from their bed and held captive by four masked men who broke into their luxurious ninth-floor flat through the rooftops early on July 21, 2023.
Donnarumma was beaten with hard knuckle gloves until he bled. “The money, the watches!” their attackers roared. Elefante was choked with a phone charging cable, and the couple were separated and tied up.
A seven-man gang, some of whom remain unidentified, fled in minutes with cash, jewels, watches, and luxury bags valued by the Italian footballer at little under one million euros ($1.1 million).
The upscale Avenue Montaigne neighborhood has been “targeted by an increasingly youthful criminal population,” the prosecutor stated during his final statements, citing seven celebrities who have fallen victim between 2022 and 2025.
The prosecution described it as a “highly lucrative” and “extremely violent” criminal that targets “its own idols.”
On the second and final day of this high-profile trial, Kherbouch apologized to the police officers he insulted on Thursday, as well as the court.
The two alleged masterminds denied any involvement during questioning, despite messages and images recovered from their phones while in custody.
Moktar D., the lone defendant present at the burglary, said he was only acting as a lookout from atop a building across the couple’s apartment.
His childhood friend, also indicted in the case and accused of being an informant, committed suicide in prison.
