Kansas Man Sentenced For Stealing Jackie Robinson Statue In Wichita

A Kansas man has been sentenced for his role in a statue of baseball legend Jackie Robinson being stolen and chopped off at the feet from a Wichita, Kansas, public park.

According to The Associated Press, Ricky Alderete was given a sentence of 18 months and sentenced to pay $41,500 restitution for stealing the statue after pleading guilty to the crime. Due to other thefts Alderete committed, he received additional time that would place him in prison for up to 15 years.

At his sentencing on Aug. 2, he blamed his addiction to fentanyl for committing his crimes.

“I let fentanyl take over me and made a lot of poor decisions. I am not going to deny that. I never meant to hurt anybody,” Alderete said. “I am embarrassed, I’m ashamed. Whatever you do today I accept. I am ready for that. I believe I am where I am supposed to be right now because at the rate I am going, I might have been dead.”

Alderete was arrested in February after allegedly breaking into a Wichita home to kidnap someone in an attempt to interfere with law enforcement. He was subsequently charged with felony theft and aggravated criminal damage to property related to the statue theft. His guilty plea was accepted by the judge, along with additional charges of aggravated burglary, aggravated criminal damage to property, interference with law enforcement, criminal damage to property, making a false writing, and identity theft related to the kidnapping charge.

He got 13.5 years in prison for the crime on Feb. 1.

After a successful GoFundMe campaign, where $194,780 was raised to reconstruct the statue, the League 42 youth baseball league will unveil the replacement statue on Aug. 5 in Wichita.

The original bronze Jackie Robinson statue was cut off at the ankles and found smoldering in a trash can days later in a city park in Kansas.

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