Kansas man pleads guilty to stealing Jackie Robinson statue

A man accused of helping steal a statue of baseball player Jackie Robinson from a park in Kansas has pleaded guilty.

Ricky Alderete, a 45-year-old man from Wichita, told court that he helped swipe the statue from the park and loaded it in a pickup truck.

The bronze statue was cut off at the ankles before it was hauled away by the burglars in January.

Its theft was met with outcry from community members, who have since raised money to replace it.

Mr Alderete is facing multiple charges including aggravated burglary, aggravated damage to property and theft, according to prosecutors.

He pleaded guilty to the charges on Thursday in the Sedgwick County District Court in Wichita, Kansas.

District Judge Tyler Roush told Mr Alderete that he faces a maximum prison sentence of over 19 years.

He also faces a fine of $41,500 (£33,126) that would be paid to League 42, a youth baseball league that plays in McAdams Park, where the statue was stolen from. The league was named after Robinson's jersey number.

Surveillance footage of the theft shows at least two people entering the park around midnight and stealing the statue, police had previously said.

Mr Alderete is the first to be arrested. He is scheduled to be sentenced on 1 July.

Robinson, who played for the Brooklyn Dodgers, made history as the first black player in MLB, paving the way for generations of African American ball players.

Earlier, authorities said there was no evidence to suggest the theft of the statue was a hate crime. Rather, the perpetrators were likely looking to make money.

"We believe this theft was motivated by the financial gain of scrapping common metal," Police lieutenant Aaron Moses said in February.

Authorities also said they believe the statue is no longer intact, and that it has been taken apart by the burglars and would need to be fully replaced.

Since its theft, nearly $200,000 (£159,650) was raised by community members through an online fundraiser, and Major League Baseball (MLB), North America's professional baseball league, has since offered to replace it.

The new statue is expected to be erected by the summer, city officials have said.