French Laundry wine thief pleads guilty

A California man has pleaded guilty to charges relating to his part in the theft of more than 100 wine bottles worth more than US$500,000 from Napa’s three Michelin-starred French Laundry restaurant.

The French Laundry in Napa

Davis Kiryakoz, 44, pleaded guilty before a federal judge in San Jose this week, as reported by SFGate.com. Charges against a second defendant, Alfred Georgis of Mountain View, are still pending.

The two men were indicted in February following the theft on Christmas Day in 2014, which saw the pair steal half a million dollars worth of wine – mostly Domaine de la Romanée-Conti and Screaming Eagle – from the restaurant, which had been closed for refurbishment.

Kiryakoz admitted shipping 63 bottles of the wine, worth more than $200,000, to a buyer in North Carolina, prosecutors said, with most of the wine was recovered in January of last year.

Kiryakoz also admitted conspiring to steal 142 bottles of wine, worth $290,000, from Fine Wines International in San Francisco in March 2013 and 29 bottles, worth $32,000, from Alexander’s Steakhouse in Cupertino in November 2014.

Kiryakoz will be sentenced on 28 March.