A man sentenced to 13 years in prison in 2000 but was never incarcerated due to a clerical error is now forced to serve his sentence.
Cornealious "Mike" Anderson, from St. Louis, Missouri, was convicted for his role in helping to rob the manager of a Burger King in 1999, the New York Daily News reported Tuesday. A prison term of 13 years was handed down, but the defendant was never told when to turn himself in after he posted bail.
Anderson, who now has a wife and four children, found himself taken away from his family after the state's Attorney General's office concluded he must still go to prison.
The state did not realize Anderson never served his sentence until the summer of 2013, when Anderson was supposed to be released from prison, the Daily News reported. A SWAT team was sent to Anderson's home to arrest him.
Patrick Michael Megaro, Anderson's attorney, said he hopes the Attorney General's office will set his client free.
"I'm hoping that there is a way for them to save face while still allowing him to stay free," Megaro told the Daily News.
But Chris Koster, the state attorney general, said Tuesday that it is not cruel to make Anderson serve his sentence now.
"The United States Supreme Court has upheld much more severe sentences for much less serious crimes," Koster wrote, according to U.S. News & World Report. "No precedent indicates Anderson's circumstances or anything like them are cruel and unusual punishment."
Anderson, who goes to church and owns his own contractor service, thought the state decided to throw out his sentence when they never came for him. Aside from the 2000 conviction, he has no other criminal record.
"This man is not a fugitive," Megaro told the newspaper. "He didn't try to hide."
Anderson's former attorney, who has since retired, thought his client was in prison. Megaro took over Anderson's case when he was re-arrested.
"[Anderson]'s no legal expert," Megaro told the newspaper. "He relied on his lawyer."
A petition was posted on change.org calling for Anderson's release. The petition has reached 20,000 as of Wednesday.
