Donnarumma Burglary: Two Men Sentenced Over Brutal Paris Robbery

Two men have been handed prison sentences for their involvement in the violent 2023 burglary that left Manchester City goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma and his pregnant partner traumatised.

The Paris Criminal Court on Friday sentenced 21-year-old Ilyas Kherbouch, described as the mastermind of the operation, to nine years behind bars and an 80,000-euro ($92,000) fine.

Moktar D., another defendant, was sentenced to five years, with two years suspended under a probation order.

A third accused man, 22-year-old Khyan M., was acquitted. Prosecutors had alleged that he helped organise the robbery while behind bars.

The horrifying attack occurred in the early hours of July 21, 2023, when masked burglars entered Donnarumma and Alessia Elefante’s ninth-floor apartment on Paris’s prestigious Avenue Montaigne through the rooftops.

The couple were pulled from their bed, threatened with knives and restrained.

Donnarumma was repeatedly beaten with hard knuckle gloves until he bled, while the attackers shouted, “The money, the watches!”

Elefante was choked using a phone charging cable before she and Donnarumma were separated and tied up.

She later suffered a miscarriage, which was blamed on the trauma caused by the incident.

The attackers, part of a seven-man gang, fled with cash, jewellery, watches and luxury bags valued by Donnarumma at just under one million euros ($1.1 million). Several members of the gang have not been identified.

Prosecutors sought tougher sentences

Prosecutors had requested prison terms of between four and 10 years for the three men accused of organising or participating in the burglary.

They sought the maximum 10-year term for Kherbouch, known by the alias “Ganito”.

Kherbouch had previously attracted attention after escaping from Villepinte prison in Seine-Saint-Denis, north of Paris, last March.

Prosecutors also requested nine years for Khyan M., known as “Kiki”, and six years for Moktar D.

However, the court ultimately acquitted Khyan M. and imposed shorter sentences on the two convicted defendants.

Both men accused of masterminding the operation denied involvement during questioning, despite investigators recovering messages and images from phones they had used while in custody.

Moktar D., the only defendant who was allegedly at the scene, maintained that his role was limited to acting as a lookout from a building opposite the apartment.

Kherbouch also apologised during the final day of the trial to police officers he had insulted during proceedings on Thursday and to the court.

Celebrity homes increasingly targeted

The prosecution highlighted a growing pattern of burglaries targeting wealthy residents and celebrities in the Avenue Montaigne area.

The prosecutor said the neighbourhood had been “targeted by an increasingly youthful criminal population”, noting that seven celebrities had been victims between 2022 and 2025.

The prosecution described the crimes as “highly lucrative” and “extremely violent”, saying criminals were increasingly targeting “its own idols”.

The case has drawn attention not only because of Donnarumma’s status as an elite footballer but also because of the extreme violence used during the robbery.

Donnarumma was playing for Paris Saint-Germain when the burglary occurred before moving to Manchester City in 2025.

The childhood friend of one of the defendants, who was also implicated and accused of serving as an informant, died by suicide while in prison.

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