Anthony Olivieri, ESPN.comMay 10, 2024, 11:15 AM ET
Ricky Alderete, 45, arrested after a Jackie Robinson statue went missing from a Wichita, Kansas, youth baseball league in January, pleaded guilty Thursday to theft and other charges.
Alderete could face more than 19 years behind bars when he’s sentenced on July 1, the district attorney’s office told ESPN.
In addition to theft, he will be sentenced for aggravated burglary, aggravated criminal damage to property, interference with law enforcement, criminal damage to property, making a false writing and identity theft. The crimes are related to the theft, as well as his identification and arrest, the district attorney’s office said.
The prosecutor’s office also said that Alderete will be forced to pay $41,500 to League 42, the youth baseball outfit named after the Brooklyn Dodgers legend.
“We’re glad that this particular chapter has been put to rest,” Bob Lutz, the executive director of League 42, told ESPN on Friday. “I’m glad that someone has been held accountable for this statue theft.”
“I hope that Mr. Alderete has learned from this experience. I hope that he has learned that what he and his accomplices did was harmful to a lot of people, including kids, and hopefully he’ll do better.”
Police said they don’t believe the crime to be racially motivated, based on what they know at this time.
There have been no more arrests connected to the case, but, using surveillance video, police said there were at least two other individuals present when the statue was cut, leaving the bronze replicas of Robinson’s cleats behind, and stolen from Wichita’s McAdams Park, where League 42 plays its games. Parts of the statue were later found, charred from a fire, in another park 7 miles away.
A police affidavit obtained by ESPN said that, days after the arrest, Alderete ran from police and entered a man’s home. The other man eventually escaped and got in touch with police, leading to Alderete’s arrest.
A GoFundMe page set up by the league raised nearly $200,000 before the fundraising link was closed Feb. 5, less than two weeks from when the statue went missing. Lutz estimated that League 42 received between $500,000 and $600,000 in total.
MLB has pledged to pay for the statue to be rebuilt, as a coordinated effort among clubs. Lutz said League 42 has received a $100,000 check from MLB for the new statue, as well as security and lighting around it.
League 42 had its opening day, without the statue in place, on Jackie Robinson Day in April. The new statue is expected to be unveiled in August.
Police believe the theft was “motivated by the financial gain of scrapping common metal.”
“I’m sorry for him,” David Robinson, Jackie Robinson’s son, said of Alderete to ESPN. “I’m sorry for the troubles of his life. His solution to steal a sculpture of a man of the stature of Jackie Robinson, it’s a further unfortunate choice and circumstance of his own making.
“But my basic feeling is that I’m sorry for the man and his position in life. I understand he has pleaded guilty. I wish he takes society’s punishment in the best way possible and from there can go on to improve his life.”
ESPN’s William Weinbaum contributed to this report.
The Ottawa Senators have opened up a nice gap as the first wild card, with 75 points and 26 regulation wins in 65 games. Beyond them, things get interesting.
If it comes down to the regulation-wins tiebreaker at season’s end, the Rangers have an upper hand over all the rest, with 29 in that column, compared with 23 for the Jackets, Red Wings and Bruins, and just 22 for the Habs.
The Canadiens host the Panthers also at 7 p.m. (NHL Network)
The Blue Jackets face the visiting Rangers also at 7 p.m. (ESPN+)
And if they have their sights set on catching the Senators, these clubs are all rooting for the Maple Leafs, who host Ottawa (7 p.m., ESPN+). It’s a great night for multiple streaming devices!
There is a lot of runway left until April 17, the final day of the regular season, and we’ll help you track it all with the NHL playoff watch. As we traverse the final stretch, we’ll provide details on all the playoff races, along with the teams jockeying for position in the 2025 NHL draft lottery.
Points: 62 Regulation wins: 23 Playoff position: N/A Games left: 15 Points pace: 75.9 Next game: vs. WPG (Sunday) Playoff chances: ~0% Tragic number: 22
Points: 45 Regulation wins: 13 Playoff position: N/A Games left: 15 Points pace: 55.1 Next game: vs. WSH (Saturday) Playoff chances: ~0% Tragic number: 5
Race for the No. 1 pick
The NHL uses a draft lottery to determine the order of the first round, so the team that finishes in last place is not guaranteed the No. 1 selection. As of 2021, a team can move up a maximum of 10 spots if it wins the lottery, so only 11 teams are eligible for the No. 1 pick. Full details on the process are here. Matthew Schaefer, a defenseman for the OHL’s Erie Otters, is No. 1 on the draft board.
The Texas Rangers‘ pitching staff took another hit Friday, when right-hander Jon Gray suffered a right wrist fracture.
Gray was struck by a line drive from Colorado Rockies first baseman Michael Toglia to lead off the fourth inning that knocked him out of the game.
“Not good news, not good news,” manager Bruce Bochy told reporters. “It’s terrible. I feel awful for him, to be this close to getting the season going. It’s just not good news. I’ll get back in there and find out more, but right now, there is a fracture.”
Gray’s injury is the third setback for the Rangers rotation this week. The team said Thursday that left-hander Cody Bradford would start the season on the injured list because of soreness in his throwing elbow. Tyler Mahle had been scratched from a start with forearm soreness, but the right-hander returned to pitch in a minor league game Thursday.
Gray went 5-6 with a 4.47 ERA in 23 appearances (19 starts) for the Rangers last season, when he was shut down in September for a foot injury that required surgery. He is in the final year of a four-year, $56 million deal.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
TOKYO — Japanese star Shohei Ohtani showed off some prodigious power in his return to the Tokyo Dome on Saturday night.
In an exhibition game against the Yomiuri Giants, the three-time Most Valuable Player belted a long two-run homer to right field in the third inning to give the Dodgers a 4-0 lead, setting off a roar from the roughly 42,000 fans in attendance.
The Dodgers put on quite a power display in the third with Michael Conforto, Ohtani and Teoscar Hernández all going deep to give Los Angeles a 5-0 advantage.
The Dodgers are playing in Japan as part of the Tokyo Series. The team is playing two exhibition games against Japanese teams before starting the regular season with two games against the Chicago Cubs on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Ohtani became the first player in MLB history to have at least 50 homers and 50 stolen bases in one season in 2024. He played several seasons for the Nippon Ham Fighters in Japan before coming to the U.S. in 2018 with the Los Angeles Angels.