By: Nathan Chen
A 45-year-old man named Ricky Alderete was sentenced to 15 years in prison for stealing and destroying a statue of Jackie Robinson in McAdams Park in Wichita, Kansas. The sentence includes 18 months for theft, and additional time was added too.
Alderete, who had a prior record of drug offenses, was arrested in February after the January incident. What was initially believed to be a hate crime, investigators now say was financially motivated as the statue was attacked so that the culprit could sell scrap metal.
Surveillance footage from the 25th of January showed Alderete and another person using a concrete saw to take some bronze from the statue, which was later found in a burning garbage can. Text messages revealed Alderete talking about selling the bronze statue for scrap. He confessed to his involvement but said that he had been contracted for the job and never got the money.
Alderete’s attorney asked for a light sentence with treatment for addiction since Alderete had been fighting addiction that had grown worse during the COVID-19 pandemic. The court, however, wanted a stronger sentence considering the serious nature of the offense.
Alderete was ordered to make $41,500 in restitution to a non-profit youth baseball organization that contracted for the statue, which was estimated to have a value of $75,000. Community support after the theft brought close to $300,000 in donations, with a $100,000 gift from Major League Baseball. The non-profit youth baseball organization plans to unwrap a new statue soon.