Ricky Alderete, 45, arrested after a Jackie Robinson statue went lacking from a Wichita, Kansas, youth baseball league in January, pleaded responsible Thursday to theft and different fees.
Alderete might face greater than 19 years behind bars when he is sentenced on July 1, the district legal professional’s workplace informed ESPN.
Along with theft, he will likely be sentenced for aggravated housebreaking, aggravated prison injury to property, interference with regulation enforcement, prison injury to property, making a false writing and identification theft. The crimes are associated to the theft, in addition to his identification and arrest, the district legal professional’s workplace stated.
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The prosecutor’s workplace additionally stated that Alderete will likely be pressured to pay $41,500 to League 42, the youth baseball outfit named after the Brooklyn Dodgers legend.
“We’re glad that this specific chapter has been put to relaxation,” Bob Lutz, the manager director of League 42, informed ESPN on Friday. “I am glad that somebody has been held accountable for this statue theft.”
“I hope that Mr. Alderete has realized from this expertise. I hope that he has realized that what he and his accomplices did was dangerous to lots of people, together with youngsters, and hopefully he’ll do higher.”
Police stated they do not imagine the crime to be racially motivated, primarily based on what they know presently.
There have been no extra arrests related to the case, however, utilizing surveillance video, police stated there have been not less than two different people current when the statue was lower, leaving the bronze replicas of Robinson’s cleats behind, and stolen from Wichita’s McAdams Park, the place League 42 performs its video games. Components of the statue had been later discovered, charred from a hearth, in one other park 7 miles away.
A police affidavit obtained by ESPN stated that, days after the arrest, Alderete ran from police and entered a person’s house. The opposite man ultimately escaped and received in contact with police, resulting in Alderete’s arrest.
A GoFundMe web page arrange by the league raised almost $200,000 earlier than the fundraising hyperlink was closed Feb. 5, lower than two weeks from when the statue went lacking. Lutz estimated that League 42 acquired between $500,000 and $600,000 in complete.
MLB has pledged to pay for the statue to be rebuilt, as a coordinated effort amongst golf equipment. Lutz stated League 42 has acquired a $100,000 verify from MLB for the brand new statue, in addition to safety and lighting round it.
League 42 had its opening day, with out the statue in place, on Jackie Robinson Day in April. The brand new statue is predicted to be unveiled in August.
Police imagine the theft was “motivated by the monetary achieve of scrapping frequent metallic.”
“I am sorry for him,” David Robinson, Jackie Robinson’s son, stated of Alderete to ESPN. “I am sorry for the troubles of his life. His resolution to steal a sculpture of a person of the stature of Jackie Robinson, it is a additional unlucky selection and circumstance of his personal making.
“However my fundamental feeling is that I am sorry for the person and his place in life. I perceive he has pleaded responsible. I want he takes society’s punishment in the easiest way attainable and from there can go on to enhance his life.”
ESPN’s William Weinbaum contributed to this report.
