The man who vandalized a bronze statue of Jackie Robinson, cutting it at the ankles and removing it from its base at a Kansas park, has been sentenced to and ordered to pay $41,500 in restitution. In February, 45-year-old Ricky Alderete was “with felony theft, aggravated criminal damage to property and giving false information in connection with the crime.” He pled guilty in May to the theft of the in addition to other charges.
of the 15-year-long prison sentence the judge handed down “stemmed from a case of aggravated burglary that happened Feb. 1, after the theft of the statue on Jan. 25.
Alderete was also on probation for another case when the statue disappeared,” according to The New York Times. In court, Alderete blamed his crimes on a . “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,” said Alderete. “I am embarrassed, I’m ashamed.
Whatever you do today I accept.” As previously reported, the statue “was stolen from McAdams Park’s League 42 youth baseball facility” then found “dismantled and burned” earlier this year in January. The only thing left behind of the statue was the replica of Robinson’s cleat-encased feet cast in bronze, and the case made international headlines.
The League 42 youth baseball league’s namesake is the number Robinson wore with the , the team he played for when integrating the MLB in 1947. Initially, many believed this to be a possible , but.