Germany sentences Daniela Klette to 13 years for robberies

Germany has sentenced daniela klette to 13 years in prison after finding her guilty of armed robberies of supermarkets and cash transporters, along with kidnapping for ransom, attempted kidnapping for ransom, aggravated robbery and violations of gun laws. The verdict, announced in court with about 50 spectators present, closes one major phase of a case that kept Klette before judges after more than 30 years living in Berlin under a false identity.

Berlin verdict on Daniela Klette

The court said Klette committed the crimes with Burkhard Garweg and Ernst-Volker Staub. The indictment put the total haul from the robberies at €2.4 million, and the case centered on targets that included armored trucks and cashier offices at large supermarkets. Police arrested Klette in February 2024 in central Berlin.

During the hearing, people in the courtroom shouted "Freedom for Daniela." Klette later addressed the court herself in mid-May and apologized for any trauma caused to cashiers and transporter drivers during the robberies. The sentence leaves her facing a long prison term in Germany even as other charges remain in the wider file.

False identity in Berlin

Police said Klette had been living as "Claudia Ivone" for some 20 years, while other records said she lived in Berlin under a false identity for more than 30 years. During her arrest, police found fake Italian identification documents, several firearms, ammunition, explosives, around €240,000 in cash and several gold bars.

The identity trail reached back into late 2023, when police in Lower Saxony received a tip-off about her apartment in Berlin. In December 2023, a crime podcast asked Michael Colborne to use AI facial recognition software to compare old photos with newer images from a Berlin capoeira studio, helping identify the woman later arrested in central Berlin.

Additional charges in Germany

Federal prosecutors also brought additional charges of attempted murder tied to attacks dating back to the early 1990s. Any terrorism charges have passed their statute of limitations, which means the verdict on the robberies and weapons offenses now carries the immediate weight in court while the older allegations remain on a separate track.

The case still matters because Klette was described as one of the last remaining members of the Red Army Faction, and the prosecution said the robberies helped finance life in hiding. Burkhard Garweg and Ernst-Volker Staub remain part of that broader file, but the sentence announced in Germany places Klette first under a 13-year prison term.

What comes next is the handling of the separate attempted murder charges brought by federal prosecutors over attacks from the early 1990s, while the robbery case now sits at the center of the record. For Klette, the verdict means the long period of concealment ended in a courtroom and now gives way to a prison sentence in Germany.