Two men jailed for attacking Donnarumma and his pregnant girlfriend in Paris

Two men have been sentenced to jail for a violent burglary at the home of Manchester City goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma and his pregnant girlfriend in Paris. This happened on Friday.

Donnarumma was badly beaten during the robbery, while his then fiancée, now wife, Alessia Elefante, was choked with a cable. She later lost her baby due to the trauma from this incident.

Ilyas Kherbouch, 21, who led the burglary, received a nine-year prison sentence and a fine of 80,000 euros ($92,000) from the Paris Criminal Court. His co-defendant Moktar D. got five years in prison, with two years suspended on probation.

A third suspect, Khyan M., was cleared of the charges. Prosecutors believed he also helped plan the robbery from his prison cell.

Donnarumma, 27, and Elefante were tied up and threatened with knives during the terrifying invasion of their luxury apartment on Avenue Montaigne in July 2023, according to the court. At that time, Donnarumma was playing for Paris Saint-Germain before his move to Manchester City in 2025.

Prosecutors had asked for prison sentences between four and 10 years for the three men involved in the violent robbery. They wanted the longest sentence of 10 years for Kherbouch, known as "Ganito," who became famous after escaping from Villepinte prison in Seine-Saint-Denis, north of Paris, last March.

For Khyan M., 22, called "Kiki," prosecutors sought nine years. They asked for six years for Moktar D., one of the robbers.

In the early hours of July 21, 2023, Donnarumma and his fiancée were pulled from their bed and held by four masked men who broke into their ninth-floor apartment through the roof. Donnarumma suffered severe beatings with hard knuckle gloves. Their attackers shouted, "The money, the watches!" Elefante was choked with a phone charging cable, and they were tied up and separated.

A gang of seven, some still unidentified, stole cash, jewelry, watches, and luxury bags worth almost one million euros ($1.1 million), according to Donnarumma.

The Avenue Montaigne area has been targeted by a growing number of younger criminals, the prosecutor noted, listing seven celebrities who were victims from 2022 to 2025. This type of crime is "very profitable" and "extremely violent," especially against famous people, according to the prosecution.

The second and final day of this trial went smoothly. Kherbouch apologized to the police officers he insulted the day before and to the court.

The two main suspects denied being involved during questioning. This was despite messages and images found on their phones while in custody. Moktar D., the only one at the scene, claimed he only acted as a lookout from a building across from the couple’s apartment.

A childhood friend of Moktar D., also involved in the case and accused of being an informant, took his own life in prison.