Man facing federal charges for 2005 crime – deadline

Is there no place like prison?

A federal grand jury today indicted a man with the 2005 robbery of a pair of ruby slippers Dressed by judy garland in The Wizard of Oz. Terry Martin is charged with one count of theft of a major work of art, specifically facing one count of theft of a cultural heritage object from the care, custody or control of a museum.

The indictment, filed in the US District Court for the District of Minnesota in Minneapolis, did not provide Martin’s age or hometown, nor did it suggest a possible maximum prison sentence. It alleges that he stole the revered shoe from the Judy Garland Museum in Grand Rapids, MN. At the time, the slippers were insured for $1 million, but a current fair market appraisal values ​​the slippers at $3.5 million, the Justice Department saying.

The ruby ​​slippers in question, which were recovered in July 2018 in a sting operation by the FBI and the Grand Rapids Police Department after a 13-year search, they are one of four pairs remaining and are among the most recognizable memorabilia in American movie history. Garland wore them when she played Dorothy in the classic 1939 film, which was nominated for an Oscar for Best Picture and also starred Bert Lahr, Frank Morgan and Ray Bolger.

At least two of the extant pairs are owned by private collectors. A pair has been on display at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History in Washington since 1979. In 2012, Leonardo DiCaprio led a group of donors in purchasing a pair for display at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures, which is will open this year in Los Angeles.

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Because the case is ongoing, the US Attorney’s Office for the District of North Dakota said it will have no further comment at this time.