Two Jailed for Violent Burglary of Man City Goalkeeper Donnarumma

Paris: Two men involved in a violent burglary targeting Manchester City's Italian goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma and his pregnant girlfriend, Alessia Elefante, have been sentenced to prison by the Paris Criminal Court. The shocking incident, which occurred at their Paris home, left Donnarumma severely beaten and Elefante experiencing a miscarriage, reportedly due to the trauma. According to Ghana Web, the court sentenced Ilyas Kherbouch, the 21-year-old mastermind of the burglary, to nine years in prison and fined him 80,000 euros ($92,000). His co-defendant, Moktar D., received a five-year prison sentence with two years suspended, contingent upon a probationary period. Another defendant, Khyan M., suspected of orchestrating the robbery from his prison cell, was acquitted. The court heard how Donnarumma, then playing for Paris Saint-Germain, and Elefante were bound and threatened at knifepoint in their Avenue Montaigne apartment in central Paris in July 2023. The Italian footballer has since transferred to Manchester City in 2025. Prosecutors sought prison sentences ranging from four to ten years for the three men involved, with the harshest sentence of ten years requested for Kherbouch, also known as 'Ganito', due to his notoriety following an escape from Villepinte prison. During the early hours of July 21, 2023, the couple was violently assaulted by four masked men who breached their ninth-floor apartment via the rooftops. Donnarumma suffered severe injuries from being beaten with hard knuckle gloves, while Elefante was choked with a phone charging cable. The attackers demanded cash and valuables before fleeing with items worth close to one million euros ($1.1 million). The prosecutor highlighted the Avenue Montaigne neighborhood's vulnerability to an increasingly young criminal population, with several celebrities targeted between 2022 and 2025. Describing the crimes as 'highly lucrative' and 'extremely violent', the prosecution pointed to the targeting of public figures as a concerning trend. As the tri al concluded, Kherbouch expressed remorse for insulting police officers and the court. Both he and another alleged mastermind denied involvement, despite evidence from phones used in custody. Moktar D., the sole defendant present during the burglary, claimed his role was limited to acting as a lookout. The case took a tragic turn with the suicide of a childhood friend implicated as an informant.