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Kansas Man Faces 19 Years in Prison After Stealing Jackie Robinson Statue in Wichita

After pleading guilty to helping steal a Jackie Robinson statue from a Wichita, Kansas park, a 45-year-old man now faces 19 years in prison.
Brady Farkas|
Jun 18, 2022; Los Angeles, CA, USA; A video montage of the career of Sandy Koufax with a Jackie Robinson statue in the foreground.
Jun 18, 2022; Los Angeles, CA, USA; A video montage of the career of Sandy Koufax with a Jackie Robinson statue in the foreground. | Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports

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Los Angeles Dodgers

After a Jackie Robinson statue was stolen from a Kansas park in January, one of the men responsible is facing 19 years in prison.

Per USA Today:

Ricky Alderete, 45, was charged in February with felony theft valued at over $25,000, aggravated criminal damage to property, identity theft, and making false information.

He will be formally sentenced on July 1 after pleading guilty to aggravated burglary, aggravated criminal damage to property, interference with law enforcement, criminal damage to property, theft, making a false writing, and identity theft.  A district judge told Alderete the maximum sentence is 229 months, or over 19 years, in prison. Alderete will also have to pay $41,500 to League 42, a youth baseball league named for the Hall of Famer's uniform number.

The statue was stolen late in January, with only the feet left remaining. The motive was reported to sell the metal for scrap.

One of the most important figures in American history, Robinson is responsible for breaking baseball's color barrier. He made his Major League debut with the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947 and spent 10 years with the franchise. Robinson was a lifetime .311 hitter in the big leagues with 137 homers and 200 stolen bases. He led the league in steals in two different seasons and was a six-time All-Star.

He was elected into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1962 and has his No. 42 retired by all 30 Major League teams.

A new statue is being erected in August after the league and all the teams said they would pay for its construction.

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Brady Farkas
BRADY FARKAS

Brady Farkas is a baseball writer for Fastball on Sports Illustrated/FanNation and the host of 'The Payoff Pitch' podcast which can be found on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Videos on baseball also posted to YouTube. Brady has spent nearly a decade in sports talk radio and is a graduate of Oswego State University. You can follow him on Twitter @WDEVRadioBrady. 

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