British mother who carried out audacious £31,000 wine heist in US is sentenced to 40 years in prison but could be free in six months after returning two stolen bottles

Published: 14:18, 19 May 2026 | Updated: 14:25, 19 May 2026 The British woman who stole $42,600 (£31,744) of rare wine from a restaurant in Virginia will be free in just six months after helping to hand two of the bottles back. Natali Ray was given 40 years in prison with all but one year suspended by a judge in Clarke County, where she pleaded guilty to three counts including grand larceny. But given time served since her arrest in November, she has just six months more left in jail. She will likely be deported to the UK after that, prosecutors told the Daily Mail. Ray, 57, had been facing 50 years in prison after the audacious crime at the L'Auberge Provençale Inn & Restaurant, 60 miles outside of Washington. She and another man are alleged to have posed as event planners to persuade Christian Borel, one of the owners of the restaurant, to show them to his wine cellar. While Ray allegedly distracted Mr Borel with smalltalk, her companion put six bottles of French pinot noir into his jacket, which is thought to have been fitted with special pockets to fit them. The pair walked out but Mr Borel and his staff realised what had happened and gave chase, detaining Ray until the police arrived. Natali Ray's slumped shoulders and blue-grey prison jumpsuit were a far cry from the cultured customer with the cut-glass accent and silk scarf who strolled into the L'Auberge Provencale This is the moment Ray allegedly posed as a wealthy wine connoisseur to steal £30,000 of fine wine  At the Clarke Circuit Court, Ray, a divorced mother-of-three from Herne Bay in Kent, was given a five year suspended sentence after admitting two counts of Possession of burglarious tools. In Ray's case that was the wigs she and the other suspect, Nikola Krndija, and the coat he was wearing, which had special deep pockets to hide the wine. She got 10 years with all but one year suspended for two counts of grand larceny. And she received 10 years, all suspended, for defrauding an innkeeper. Upon Ray's release she will have 10 years of unsupervised probation, the judge ruled. Clarke County prosecutor Matthew Bass told the Daily Mail via email that during the hearing his Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney, Suni Mackall, asked the court for a three year sentence. Ray's lawyers asked for time served. According to Mr Bass, the judge deviated upward from the sentencing guidelines because of the 'level of deception involved'. He said: '(Given) this was a planned heist targeting a local establishment, and the fact that because deportation is anticipated, there was no meaningful way for the court to have continued supervision through a period of supervised probation'. Mr Bass added: 'All credit to the patrons and staff of L'Auberge Provencale, who ensured that Ms. Ray did not escape the scene and remained here in Clarke County to face punishment for her actions'. Ray may also have been involved in other targeted thefts of a highly prized French wine The British-born mother of three did not make it off the restaurant's grounds before she was detained and arrested Ray's alleged accomplice is said to have taken eight bottles before replacing them with decoy bottles of cheap wine Meanwhile, Ray was alleged to be deliberately distracting staff with her back story about a possible lucrative booking Ray could be out even earlier as non violent criminals typically only serve two thirds of their sentence assuming good behaviour while inside, Mr Bass said. The six missing wines were all from the Domaine de la Romanée-Conti estate in Burgundy, one of the most expensive vineyards in the world Two of the bottles, a 2019 Échézeaux and a 2021 Grands Échézeaux were found lying on the grass but six others including 2020 Romanée-Conti, all valued by Mr Borel at $42,600 were missing. They were: a Romanee-Conti 2020, valued at $24,000 and a Romanee-Saint-Vivant 2020, which costs $3,500 The others were a Vosne-Romanée 2020, valued at $3,600, a Richebourg 2020 worth $4,500, an Echezeaux 2019, which goes for $3,500 and a Grand-Echezeaux from 2021, which costs $3,500. In a twist, Ray had helped to return two of the wines ahead of her sentencing, apparently in the hope of getting a lighter sentence. They were the Romanee-Conti and the Richebourg, valued by Mr Borel at a combined $28,500. According to court documents, someone contacted Ray's oldest son and he helped to get the bottles to her lawyer, who handed them over to the local sheriff. Ray is said to have participated in the effort as part of her efforts to make things right. In court filings Ray's lawyer Eric Angel said that she had no prior criminal history and had been an 'upstanding and productive member of society in England prior to this'. Ray (pictured) was sentenced to 40 years in prison, but could now be freed in just six months  CCTV captured the couple being led through three dining rooms and into the cellar Ray and the man are seen getting into their vehicle as they leave the estate Mr Borel can be seen chasing after Ray and the man after realising the bottles had gone missing He claimed that Ray wanted to return to the UK to care for her elderly mother, who is blind. Angel did not respond to messages from the Daily Mail. Krndija, 57, the other suspect, remains at large and is still wanted. According to Mr Bass, somebody claiming to be his lawyer in Serbia called his office some weeks ago asking if he could appear remotely. He told the Daily Mail: 'We look forward to a day when we can do the same (as Ray) for her co-defendant'. No comments have so far been submitted. Why not be the first to send us your thoughts, or debate this issue live on our message boards. By posting your comment you agree to our house rules. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual We will automatically post your comment and a link to the news story to your Facebook timeline at the same time it is posted on MailOnline. To do this we will link your MailOnline account with your Facebook account. We’ll ask you to confirm this for your first post to Facebook. You can choose on each post whether you would like it to be posted to Facebook. 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