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Woman sentenced in statue theft

INDEPENDENCE (AP) – An Independence woman will serve four years’ probation for her role in the theft of a 1,000-pound statue from the National Trails Frontier Museum in Independence.

Thirty-four-year-old Kelli Summers was sentenced Monday in the June 2013 theft of the Pioneer Woman statue.

Prosecutors believe Summers and two men stole the 6-foot statue and destroyed it in an unsuccessful plan to sell it for scrap.

The Independence Examiner reports Summers received probation because she cooperated with prosecutors. Thirty-seven-year-old Jeremy Ratliff, of Independence, was sentenced last week to three years in prison. In March, 30-year-old Randy Perez, also of Independence, was sentenced to seven years in prison.

The statue was valued at $75,000 when it was stolen.

An artist has been commissioned to create a similar statue for the museum.

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