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News
Second thief jailed over $800k French Laundry wine heist
A second man who stole $870,000 worth of wine from Thomas Keller’s Michelin-starred French Laundry restaurant in Napa has been jailed for three years.
The French Laundry in Napa
Alfred Georgis, 53, of Mountain View, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to transport stolen goods in interstate commerce before a San Jose judge, as reported by the Press Democrat.
San Jose-based U.S District Court Judge Beth L. Freeman sentenced Georgis to 37 months in prison and a restitution payment of $585,715.
It follows the jailing of his co-conspirator Davis Kiryakoz, 44, of Modesto, who was jailed for 15 months and ordered him to pay nearly US$600,000 in restitution in March 2017.
The pair admitted to breaking into the restaurant, which had been closed for refurbishment, on Christmas Day in 2014 and stealing 110 bottles of wine worth $870,000 – mostly Domaine de la Romanée-Conti and Screaming Eagle. Most of the wine was recovered in January of last year.
The men admitted to selling bottles from their burglaries to a North Carolina buyer, who on discovering the bottles were stolen refused to make further payments. Transactions left a trail for the FBI to follow leading to their arrest in 2016.