MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A hearing where a Minnesota man was expected to plead guilty to hiding a stolen pair of ruby slippers that Judy Garland wore in “The Wizard of Oz” was postponed indefinitely Wednesday after his attorney told the court that the man is hospitalized.U.S. District Judge Patrick Schiltz granted the continuance at the request of the attorney for Jerry Hal Saliterman, 77, of Crystal, who was planning to change his plea to guilty at a hearing that was scheduled for this coming Friday. Defense lawyer John Brink said Saliterman was hospitalized Jan. 3 “for inability to walk and sepsis,” an infection that can be life-threatening. He wrote that Saliterman remained hospitalized Wednesday and that doctors do not know when he will be available. Federal prosecutors did not object.Saliterman attended his arraignment Monday via video from what looked like a hospital room. He was in a wheelchair and on supplemental oxygen last March at his first court appearance. He was charged then with theft of a major artwork…

A hearing where a Minnesota man was expected to plead guilty to hiding a stolen pair of ruby slippers that Judy Garland wore in “The Wizard of Oz” has been postponed indefinitely because he's hospitalized.

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A man accused of long hiding a stolen pair of sequined ruby slippers that Judy Garland wore in “The Wizard of Oz” plans to plead guilty, his attorney confirmed Friday.The slippers were stolen in 2005 from the Judy Garland Museum in her hometown of Grand Rapids, Minnesota. Their whereabouts remained a mystery for nearly 13 years until the FBI recovered them in 2018. They fetched a record price for movie memorabilia when they were auctioned off for $32.5 million last month, according to Heritage Auctions, which conducted the sale. The buyer still has not been revealed.Jerry Hal Saliterman, now 77, of Crystal, Minnesota, was charged last March with theft of a major artwork and witness tampering. He’s expected to plead not guilty when he’s arraigned Monday before a federal magistrate judge, a formality because magistrate judges can’t accept guilty pleas in felony cases in Minnesota. But the district judge overseeing the case on Friday scheduled a change of plea hearing for Jan. 10.Saliterman's…

A defense attorney says a man accused of long hiding a stolen pair of ruby slippers that Judy Garland wore in “The Wizard of Oz” plans to plead guilty.