An appeals court in Creteil, near Paris, upheld the convictions of 16 people for their roles in the 2006 kidnapping, torture and murder of Ilan Halimi, a young French Jew, handing down sentences of up to 18 years in prison.
Ilan Halimi, 23, was lured by a young woman and held captive for over three weeks in a Paris suburb. He was found naked, handcuffed and covered with burn marks near railroad tracks south of Paris on Feb. 13, 2006. He died on the way to the hospital.
The ringleader, Youssouf Fofana, , a Frenchman of Ivory Coast descent, was not on trial in the proceedings that began Oct. 25. He chose not to appeal his conviction and life sentence.
Two of his close associates, Jean-Christophe Soumbou and Samir Ait Abdel Malek, were sentenced to 18 years behind bars in the verdict Friday. A state prosecutor had sought 20 years for each. Malek had previously been sentenced to 15 years. Soumbous' penalty was unchanged.
The appeals proceedings took place behind closed doors because two of the defendants were minors at the time.
A nine-year sentence was upheld against the young woman who had taken part in luring Halimi into the gang's custody. She was once of the two minors when the crimes occurred.
One of the 17 defendants on trial was acquitted.
The murder of Ilan Halimi revived worries in France about anti-Semitism, which is considered the main motive of those involved in the killing.
It has led to deep anxiety in France's Jewish community, the largest in Western Europe.
Twenty-four people, including eight women, were convicted in the original trial last year on a variety of charges, including kidnapping by an organized group and failing to assist a person in danger.