A federal courtroom. January 2024.
Martin came to court in a wheelchair, on oxygen, and in hospice care. Prosecutors said his health “is simply too fragile” for prison.
He received no prison time. He was ordered to pay $23,500 to the museum. Prosecutors put the slippers' market value at about $3.5 million.
But Martin had handed the slippers to his associate years before. Somebody else had kept them out of sight.