Man sentenced in French Laundry wine heist

A South Bay man was sentenced in U.S. District Court on Tuesday to 37 months in prison for conspiracy to transport high-end wines that were stolen from Bay Area restaurants, including The French Laundry in Yountville, federal prosecutors said.

Alfred Georgis, 53, of Mountain View, pleaded guilty to conspiring with Davis Kiryakoz, 44, of Modesto, and others to steal 29 bottles of expensive wines from Alexander’s Steakhouse in Cupertino on Nov. 8, 2014.

Georgis acknowledged the 29 bottles of wine were worth approximately $32,000, and that he and Kiryakoz shipped 17 bottles worth about $25,000 to the buyer in North Carolina, prosecutors said.

Georgis also admitted conspiring with Kiryakoz to steal approximately 110 bottles of wine valued at $549,447 from The French Laundry on Dec. 26, 2014.

The two men sold approximately 63 bottles of stolen wine valued at $221,374 to the same North Carolina buyer and transported some of the wine on Dec. 26-29, 2014, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

A federal grand jury charged Georgis and Kiryakoz with one count of conspiracy to transport stolen goods and two counts of transportation of stolen goods. Both men pleaded guilty to conspiracy and the remaining charges against them were dismissed.

Kiryakoz was sentenced in March 2017 to 15 months in prison, three years of supervised release and he was ordered to pay $585,715 in restitution for his role in the conspiracy, prosecutors said.

Georgis also was ordered Tuesday to pay jointly and severally with Kiryakoz $585,715 in restitution and to serve three years of supervised release as part of his sentence.

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