By: Vivian Tang

Ricky Alderete, 45, got sentenced to 15 years in prison for stealing and destroying the Jackie Robinson Statue in Wichita, Kansas, on Friday, August 2nd.

Alderete has a criminal record for drug charges in February and had spent time in prison before for this reason.

Mr. Alderete was also sentenced to prison for charges in a separate case because in October 2022, he stole and pawned a cellphone.

The only part of the statue left behind was the bronze feet, which gained international attention. Some people think the crime was hate-motivated, but investigators claim that there’s no evidence to support this.

Lieutenant Aaron Moses is from the Wichita Police Department.

“Instead, we believe this theft was motivated by the financial gain of scrapping common metal,” Moses said.

A surveillance camera showing the videos from early January 25th caught two figures severing the statue using a concrete saw outside McAdams Park in Wichita, then linked to Mr. Alderete.

One city worker found pieces of the statue in a trash can, while investigators found text messages sent by Alderete to a friend.

According to the records, a line from Alderete’s messages read, “I am on my way to the scrap yard now so that we can process the scrap and get paid.”

According to the court records, when investigators interviewed Alderete, he admitted to cutting the statue. However, he also claimed that he had been hired by another person and was never paid.

Jorge M. De Hoyos is an assistant public defender representing Alderete.

“On Friday (August 2nd), Mr. Alderete was sentenced to 162 months in prison for aggravated burglary and 18 months in prison for aggravated criminal damage to property,” said De Hoyos said.

According to court documents, Alderete broke into someone’s house and told the person inside that he was running from the police. When Alderete fell asleep, the person inside ran out, and the police arrested Alderete.

Alderete was sentenced to prison for 162 months as a result of aggravated burglary and 18 months for aggravated criminal damage to property.