By: Hannah Zhang

Ricky Alderete, 45, was sentenced to 15 years in prison in Wichita, Kansas, on August 2nd, 2024. In addition to stealing and destroying a statue of Jackie Robinson from a youth baseball league, he was also charged for multiple other crimes.

Mr. Alderete has been convicted and charged previously for burglary, theft, and aggravated assault, having spent time in prison in the past. His sentence consisted of 162 months in prison for aggravated burglary and a further 18 months for the theft of the statue.

Motives for stealing the statue of Jackie Robinson are unknown. The statue of the baseball star belonged to the League 42 youth baseball league, and was placed in front of a baseball field in McAdams Park. Concerns of the theft being a “hate-motivated crime” were brushed aside by investigators from Wichita, claiming that “there was no evidence,” according to the New York Times.

Instead, as Lt. Aaron Moses of the Wichita Police Department stated at the time, they “believe this theft was motivated by the financial gain of scrapping common metal.” Later on, parts of the stolen statue were found in a trash can by a city worker and it became regarded as irreparable.

Alderete was also forced to pay a fine of $41,500 for his theft of the Jackie Robinson statue, to which his count of aggravated burglary is closely linked to.While on the run from police suspecting him of being associated with the statue theft, Alderete broke into a civilian’s home and demanded refuge. He later fell asleep in the house he broke into and was arrested by the police.

Other charges Alderete faced included the theft of a cell phone that dates back to October of 2022. Jorge M. De Hoyos, an assistant public defender representing Mr. Alderete, has also voiced his concerns for Alderete to receive mandatory inpatient addiction treatment in addition to his time in prison.