A person has been indicted by a grand jury on fees of stealing a pair of ruby crimson slippers worn by Judy Garland in “The Wizard of Oz,” federal prosecutors in North Dakota say. The sneakers had been stolen in 2005 and recovered by a 2018 FBI sting operation, however no arrests had been made on the time.

Terry Martin was indicted Tuesday with one depend of theft of a significant paintings, prosecutors introduced Wednesday. The indictment didn't present any additional details about Martin and on-line information don't checklist an legal professional for him.

Garland wore a number of pairs of the ruby slippers throughout manufacturing of the 1939 musical, however solely 4 genuine pairs stay. When they had been stolen, the slippers had been insured for $1 million however the present market worth is about $3.5 million, federal prosecutors stated in a information launch.

The slippers had been on mortgage to the Judy Garland Museum within the late actor’s hometown of Grand Rapids, Minnesota, when somebody climbed via a window and broke the show case, prosecutors stated once they had been recovered.

Over the years, a number of attractive rewards had been supplied in hopes that the slippers would flip up. Law enforcement supplied $250,000 early within the case, and an nameless donor from Arizona put up $1 million in 2015.

The street to the lacking slippers started when a person instructed the sneakers’ insurer in 2017 that he might assist get them again. After a virtually year-long investigation, the FBI nabbed the sneakers in Minneapolis in July 2018. At the time, the bureau stated nobody has been arrested or charged within the case.

On Wednesday, a summons was issued for Martin. An preliminary courtroom look was set for June 1, and it is going to be by way of video. Terry Van Horn, spokesman for the U.S. Justice Department in North Dakota, stated he couldn't present any data past what was included within the indictment.

The sneakers are famously related to one of many iconic traces in “The Wizard of Oz,” as Garland’s character Dorothy clicks her heels and repeats the phrase, “There’s no place like home.”

The sneakers are constituted of a few dozen totally different supplies, together with wooden pulp, silk thread, gelatin, plastic and glass. Most of the ruby coloration comes from sequins however the bows of the sneakers comprise crimson glass beads.

When they had been stolen, the slippers had been on mortgage from Hollywood memorabilia collector Michael Shaw. The three remaining pairs Garland wore within the film had been held by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the Smithsonian, and a personal collector.

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