A 76-year-old man admitted stealing ruby slippers worn by Judy Garland in 'The Wizard of Oz'

• Terry Jon Martin pleaded guilty to a museum robbery that took place in 2005.
• He used a hammer to smash a door at the Judy Garland Museum in Grand Rapids, Minnesota.

A man admitted stealing the ruby red slippers worn by Dorothy in "The Wizard of Oz" from the Judy Garland Museum in Grand Rapids, Minnesota.

Terry Jon Martin, 76, pleaded guilty Friday to one count of theft, saying that he used a hammer to break into the museum in 2005 and smash the display case containing the slippers, The Associated Press reported.

He said he thought the rubies were real, but when a fence — someone who buys stolen goods — told him they were only glass, he got rid of them.

Martin did not reveal what he did with the slippers, however.

No one had been held in connection with the theft until Martin was charged. He lives in Duluth near Grand Rapids, where Judy Garland — who played Dorothy Gale in the 1939 film — lived until she was four.

"Terry has no idea where they were and how they were recovered," said Martin's attorney, Dane DeKrey, after the hearing, The AP reported. "His involvement was that two-day period in 2005."

Martin may avoid prison time due to his age and poor health, per the news agency. He arrived at the court in a wheelchair and with an oxygen tank.

DeKrey said Martin had advanced chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and found breathing difficult.

"He's basically slowly suffocating to death," the attorney said. "I think Terry is facing his own mortality, and I think when people are reaching that point in their life, they cut through the pleasantries and talk turkey."

The FBI recovered the shoes, which are one of four pairs thought to remain from the film, in 2018. Federal prosecutors said the shoes were likely worth about $3.5 million.

The Judy Garland Museum is in the actor's childhood home and features some of her personal items. Garland died in London in 1969. Her children include Liza Minnelli.