International
French court slaps 15-yr jail term on jewel thieves for 2 robberies in Paris
Three jewel thieves identified as Dominique Vilaca, Fofana, 26, and his cousin Youssouf Fofana, 25, all appeared before a court in France where they were handed sentences of up to 15 years for two robberies in Paris.
The presiding judge at the Paris court on Friday ruled that Dominique, said to be involved in both crimes, be jailed for 15 years, as well as Ismaila who took part in the 2014 heist. Youssouf was however handed a jail term of seven years for the De Beers robbery.
While in court, the prosecutors revealed that the similarities in the two raids in Paris led investigators to charge two of the men with the earlier crime.
Read also: UK: Court agrees to extradite man involved in model kidnap plot
According to court papers, in the first robbery staged in 2013, the criminals made off quietly with millions of euros worth of jewelry from a De Beers outlet but another staged by the gang more than a year later from a Cartier store went awry and ended in a gunfight with police.
The court heard how two robbers had targeted the De Beers outlet in the upmarket Printemps department store in central Paris in February 2013, getting away with jewellery worth about 3.78 million euros (£3.3m). No-one was hurt.
However, in November 2014, police exchanged fire with two robbers as they fled the Cartier store with jewellery worth more than eight million euros.
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