Terry Jon Martin, a 76-year-old ex-mobster who stole the iconic ruby slippers from the movie “The Wizard of Oz” in 2005, received no prison time for his crime Monday.
Chief Judge of the U.S. District of Minnesota Patrick Schiltz showed leniency on account of Martin’s failing health as he is housebound in hospice care and expected to die within six months, The Associated Press (AP) reported. (RELATED: Video Appears To Show Theft Of Jackie Robinson’s Statue)
Dying thief who stole ‘Wizard of Oz’ ruby slippers from Minnesota museum gets no prison time https://t.co/7nyHuR2Dmt
— The Associated Press (@AP) January 29, 2024
Ordinarily, Martin would have been sentenced to four and half to six years in jail, The AP reported. Both sides agreed Martin would pay $23,500 to the museum he stole the slippers from. However, Martin does not appear to have the money, according to the prosecution filing, The AP reported.
Martin’s motivation for the theft was to get “one last score,” Martin’s lawyer Dane DeKrey said, The AP reported.
“At first, Terry declined the invitation to participate in the heist. But old habits die hard, and the thought of a ‘final score’ kept him up at night,” DeKrey wrote in a memo, according to The AP. “After much contemplation, Terry had a criminal relapse and decided to participate in the theft,” DeKrey added.
Martin confessed to his crime back in Oct. 2023 after being charged with stealing an object of cultural heritage, a United States Attorney’s Office press statement read. The slippers, which were one of four pairs made for the 1939 classic, were recovered by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and police back in 2018, according to the press release.
Martin had no clue the slippers he stole were from an iconic movie. He gave the slippers to an old mob associate after being told the rubies on them were not real, The AP reported. DeKrey observed that Martin was “a contributing member of society” who had given up the mob life after being released from prison in 1996 and had committed no crimes until the slipper incident from then on, The AP reported.
The slippers were insured for $1 million, but federal prosecutors put the current market value at around $3.5 million, according to The AP.