User:"Fentanyl took over me" Robinsons statue thief sentenced to 15 years in prison
A 'serious' sentence was given to the thief who stole Jackie Robinson's statue.
ESPN, a U.S. sports channel, said on the 3rd (Korea time) that Ricky Alderette was sentenced to 15 years in prison (180 months) by a judge for damaging Jackie Robinson statue after stealing it from Wichito McAdams Park in Kansas earlier this year. Alderette admitted to the charges, saying, "Fentanyl (a kind of narcotic painkiller) dominated me. I made many wrong decisions and I will not deny it." He said, "I have been suffering from drugs for a long time, but I have never asked for help. The only place I could run to when I had a problem was drugs," but it was not accepted.
Robinson is an iconic black player who broke down the walls of people of color after debuting in the big league in 1947 wearing the LA Dodgers uniform. After the statue incident, some raised the possibility of a crime linked to racial discrimination. ESPN reported that the police judged that the crime was not motivated by race but to make a financial gain by discarding ordinary metals. Bob Roots of the League 42 Foundation, which manages the statue, said he hopes Alderette will be released from prison as a different person.
Earlier, 30 Major League Baseball (MLB) clubs delivered funds to the League 42 Foundation to build alternative statues. Robinson's new statue will be unveiled on the 6th with senior MLB officials in attendance.
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