DULUTH — Terry J. Martin, described by his attorney as an old thief, will not spend any more time in prison for stealing a pair of ruby slippers worn by Judy Garland in the movie “The Wizard of Oz,” a judge ruled Monday morning in federal court. The court.
Martin struck a plea deal with the federal government for time served.
He has been sick since 2018 and is currently in hospice.
“The theft of the slippers has sent shockwaves around the world,” Martin's court-appointed attorney, Dean Deckery, wrote in his response to the ruling. “But as with all criminal activity, there are levels of culpability. Here, Terry's level is lower than it first appears.”
Martin, who was in a wheelchair and carrying an oxygen tank, pleaded guilty to stealing the slippers in mid-October 2023. In short, some key points in the long-running Minnesota mystery were revealed, as he spoke direct sentences in his raspy voice. It was a late-night smash-and-grab operation at the Judy Garland Museum in Grand Rapids in 2005 that involved little more than an after-hours visit and a sledgehammer.
By the time of the robbery, Martin — who had previously led a life of crime — had been out of prison nearly a decade and living right in rural Minnesota.
In his judgment call, court-appointed attorney Dane Deckery wrote about the lure of the job offered to Martin by the crime boss and the rush to achieve “one last score.” Martin, whose early life was filled with tragedies including the deaths of his mother and cruel stepmother and the loss of his infant twins in a fatal car-train accident, spent years in prison. One of his areas of knowledge is: stealing jewels.
He said he believed the slippers were made of real rubies. The truth is, they were just glass and sequins.
According to Deckery, Martin had been in possession of the shoes for no more than 48 hours. Then he washed his hands of the entire project.
“This was not an act intended to stir up international intrigue by him,” Dekri wrote. “He was an old thief who committed a crime that he lived to deeply regret.”
No one else has been charged with a crime related to this case, according to the attorney.
In his response to the ruling, Deckery noted that Martin never sought to make any gains from the robbery. Others did.
“And there wasn't a bunch of low-rent criminals trying to get paid,” Dekri wrote. “They were real juice people, whose associations included organized crime and the federal government.”
In an addendum to the ruling, US Attorneys Mac Schneider and Matthew Greenlee wrote that the Judy Garland Museum, its director at the time of the crime, and the insurance company are seeking compensation – but the requests fall short.
Martin was ordered to pay $300 a month in restitution.
At the time of the theft, the slippers were on loan to a museum in the town where Garland was born. It was one of several pairs she wore in the 1939 classic film “The Wizard of Oz.” The owner of the slippers, Michael Shaw, is a memorabilia collector from California. Last week, he declined to comment on the case, but said he still owned the shoes but was not in possession of them yet.
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