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Sergeant Mike Bell walked into the kitchen of a high-end French restaurant carrying a black crate that held the latest surprise in a case full of them. “You’re not going to believe this,” he told the owners. Over the previous five months, the two had taken in a string of surreal events: two strangers talked their way into a tour of the restaurant’s wine cellar – he wore a toupee and long overcoat, she spoke in a pleasant English accent – before stealing several bottles, including a US$24,000 ($40,825) pinot noir. A foot chase ensued down a Virginia highway, ending with the woman captured by a waiter while her companion zoomed off in a getaway car. Authorities later identified the man as a Serbian national who boarded a flight for Vienna and disappeared. Now, Bell was in front of them. “Here’s the wine that was stolen,” he said. Celeste and Alain Borel were stunned. Inside the crate were two bottles encased in clear bubble wrap: the prized pinot and another they’d valued at US$7000. The Borels had assumed both were long gone – maybe lifted off for Vienna or sold to a high-end collector in New York or consumed at a dinner party in Hong Kong. “This story is just getting nuts,” Alain Borel recalled thinking. A big part of that story concluded on Monday. The woman who was arrested, Natali Ray, 57, pleaded guilty in a Clarke County courtroom to charges of grand larceny, possession of burglary tools and defrauding a restaurant or inn. Circuit Court Judge Alexander R. Iden sentenced her to 12 months in jail. Ray is expected to receive six months of credit for time already served. State prosecutors had requested three years, citing all the planning of the heist. Ray’s defence attorney had requested her release. “Ms Ray has no prior criminal history and has been an upstanding and productive member of society in England prior to this,” assistant public defender Eric Angel wrote in court filings, saying she wants to return to Britain to care for her elderly, blind mother. A major issue before the sentencing was the return of the bottles – how it happened, what their five months away did to their value and whether their return should affect Ray’s punishment. The bottles resurfaced after someone who had them contacted Ray’s oldest son, who helped get the bottles delivered to the public defender’s office. They were then turned over to the sheriff’s office. Ray’s attorney said in court documents that the effort, which Ray participated in, shows her desire to make the victims whole. Not everyone agreed. “There is nothing in the law that says you can steal something temporarily and bring it back and be absolved of all wrongdoings,” Clarke County Sheriff Travis Sumption said. Nikola Krndija is suspected of taking part in a wine heist in Virginia, according to authorities, who say they are still searching to locate him. Photo / Clarke County Sheriff's Office The Borels say they are far from whole. In the world of high-priced wine, bottle storage conditions are paramount – approximately 13C, 60-70% humidity, darkness, lying on their sides – and assurance that those conditions were maintained matters. Because the two bottles were missing for 145 days, the Borels say, there is no way to know how they were handled. “Nobody is going to pay US$24,000 not knowing how the wine was kept,” Alain Borel said. “It’s like not knowing the chain-of-custody for evidence,” Celeste Borel added. “Once you don’t have it, the value goes away.” The second suspect, Nikola Krndija, 57, remains a fugitive. There have been signs he has been following the case. Earlier in the case, according to Clarke Commonwealth’s Attorney Matthew Bass, someone claiming to be Krndija’s attorney contacted the courthouse asking whether Krndija could appear remotely, ostensibly from Serbia. “That’s not how things work here,” Bass said. “As far as we’re concerned, Mr Krndija is welcome to return to the United States and surrender himself to authorities.” Theft of high-end wine has bec...
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