Man who stole Jackie Robinson statue from Kansas youth field gets 18 months for theft

The man who stole a bronze Jackie Robinson statue that was cut off at the ankles and found days later smoldering in a trash can in a city park in Kansas is going to spend about 15 years in prison, although most of that time is related to a burglary that happened a few days after the January statue heist.

The man who stole a bronze Jackie Robinson statue that was cut off at the ankles and found days later smoldering in a trash can has been sentenced to prison. Ricky Alderete on Friday was sentenced to 18 months for the statue theft and also 13.5 years for an unrelated burglary. In a Kansas court, he said his actions stemmed from a fentanyl addiction. The League 42 youth baseball league plans to unveil a replacement statue crafted from the original mold Monday at a park in Wichita. The city was shocked when the statue was cut from its base in January, leaving only the shoes and feet. The league that primarily serves low-income youth is named after Robinson’s uniform number when he played for the Brooklyn Dodgers, with whom he broke the major leagues’ color barrier in 1947. Firefighters found burned remnants of the statue five days later while responding to a trash can fire at another park about 7 miles away. Alderete pleaded guilty to the theft. He was sentenced to 18 months and ordered to pay $41,500 restitution for stealing the statue.