A British mother who wore a disguise as part of a scheme to steal £31,000 worth of wine from a high-end restaurant in Virginia, US, could walk free in six months. Natali Ray, 57, was one of two people involved in what authorities described as a 'planned out heist' at L’Auberge Provençale in November last year.
The Heist
Ray, a former guest house owner, and her accomplice Nikola Krndija, also 57, told the restaurant’s co-owner that they were representatives of a wealthy Canadian businesswoman looking to book a 25-person dinner. The pair parked far from the restaurant, wore wigs to conceal their identities, and introduced themselves under fake names. Ray used the pseudonym Stephanie Baker.
She then requested a tour of the wine cellar, telling sommelier Christian Borel that her boss was 'very particular' about storage. Once inside, Ray distracted the co-owner while Krndija allegedly took eight bottles of wine, slipping them into his coat and swapping them for cheaper bottles.
Aftermath and Arrest
Following the incident, Krndija fled the scene and boarded a flight to Austria, and has not been seen since. However, Ray was apprehended in the car park. She later pleaded guilty to grand larceny, possession of burglary tools, and defrauding a restaurant or inn.
Ray faced up to 40 years in prison, but during a hearing at Clarke Circuit Court on Monday, she was handed a one-year sentence, shorter than prosecutors expected. It was deemed that she had already served half her sentence in the six months she had been held in custody.
Wine Recovery and Value Loss
Two bottles with a combined value of around £22,200 were returned to the restaurant following the incident. These included a prized pinot noir valued at $24,000 (£17,000) and another worth $7,000 (£5,200). However, the restaurant’s owners argued that the wines were not stored properly after the heist and therefore had lost much of their value.
Celeste Borel, co-owner of L’Auberge Provençale, told local newspaper The Winchester Star: 'It really makes you question the judicial system. Nobody’s getting a cellar tour again unless I happen to know them extremely well already.'
