A man who stole a bronze statue of Jackie Robinson, which had its ankles cut off and was found burning in a Kansas park trash bin days later, is facing up to 15 years in prison. But the bulk of that sentence is for a burglary that happened days after the statue was stolen in January.
A judge convicted Ricky Alderete on Friday in three separate cases that he said stemmed from his addiction to fentanyl.
The youth baseball league League 42 plans to unveil a replacement statue of Robinson, made from the original mold, on Monday in a park in Wichita, Kansas.
The league, which primarily targets youth from poor families, is named after Robinson’s jersey number with the Brooklyn Dodgers, which he used in 1947 to break the major league color barrier.
Robinson played for the Kansas City Monarchs in the Negro Leagues before joining the Dodgers, paving the way for generations of black American baseball players.
He was considered not only a sports legend but also an icon of the civil rights movement. He died in 1972.
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The city reacted with shock when the statue was chopped off its pedestal in January, leaving only its feet.
Five days later, firefighters found the burned remains of the statue when they responded to a garbage can fire in another park about seven miles away.
Alderete pleaded guilty to the theft. He was sentenced to 18 months in prison and ordered to pay $41,500 in restitution for stealing the statue. He received the longest sentence for aggravated burglary, for which he was sentenced to 13.5 years in prison.
“I let fentanyl take over me and I made a lot of bad decisions,” he said in court. “I’m not going to deny that. I never wanted to hurt anyone. I’m ashamed, I’m ashamed.
“Whatever you do today, I accept it. I’m ready for it. I believe I’m where I’m supposed to be, because at the speed I’m going, I might be dead.”
After the statue was stolen, donations poured in to replace it, including $100,000 from Major League Baseball. Former New York Yankees manager Joe Torre and CC Sabathia, a Cy Young Award-winning pitcher, are expected to attend the unveiling.
The bronze studs left behind when the original statue was stolen are now on display at the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum in Kansas City, Missouri.