The man responsible for stealing a Jackie Robinson statue from a youth baseball league in Wichita, Kan. was sentenced on Friday to 15 years in prison, ending a saga that drew national headlines.
Ricky Alderete, 45, pleaded guilty in May to theft, as well as other charges. The Wichita Eagle reported Friday that most of the prison sentence 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.
Alderete was sentenced to an additional 18 months for the stealing of the statue. He was also ordered to pay $41,500 in restitution to League 42, a local baseball league that was founded in 2013 “to fill a void so that Wichita’s urban children could have an opportunity to play baseball,” according to the league’s website. The league was named for the jersey number of Robinson, who in 1947 became the first Black player to play in Major League Baseball after decades of segregation enforced by the league and its owners.
The league was flooded with more than $700,000 in donations, according to the Wichita Eagle, including one from Major League Baseball, after the statue was stolen. It was later found burned in a trash can in a different park. When Alderete pleaded guilty in May, authorities in Wichita said the crime was motivated by plans to sell the statue for scrap metal.
League 42 plans to unveil a replacement Robinson statue this month.
(Photo of the Jackie Robinson statue that stood in Wichita, Kan.: Courtesy of League 42)