A Missouri man who was re-arrested in July 2013 for a 13-year prion sentenced he never served was released again.
Cornealious "Mike" Anderson was 23-years-old when he was sentenced in 2000 for his role in the robbery of a Burger King manager. But Anderson, now 37, never received the order to report for his sentencing. The state realized its mistake and ordered Anderson rearrested last summer, taking him away from his wife and three children. Anderson was reunited with his family on Monday after a Missouri judge ruled he was "a good man," KSDK-TV reported.
"Day by day, month by month, year by year, time passed, and they never picked me up," Anderson told the AP in April.
Anderson, who remained in St. Louis, committed no other crime in the 14 years he was free. He even began his own construction-related business, started a family and volunteered at his church in Webster Groves.
It wasn't until July 2013- when Anderson would have been released from prison- that the Missouri Department of Corrections realized the clerical error. Eight U.S. marshals arrived at Anderson's home and took him 150 miles away to the Southeast Correctional Center, where stayed until his release, KSDK-TV reported.
Anderson's Defense attorneys filed an appeal arguing that locking the father and husband up now would be cruel. A change.org petition was also started and received 35,000 signatures on Anderson's behalf.
State Attorney General Chris Koster previously said sending Anderson to prison now would not be "cruel and unusual punishment." But Koster later appeared open to finding a solution to what he said was a "difficult situation," the station reported.
Judge Terry Lynn Brown of the state's 33rd Judicial Circuit Court gave Anderson credit for the 4,794 days that passed between his 2000 conviction and his July arrest.
"You've been a good father," Brown told Anderson at his hearing, KSDK-TV reported. "You've been a good husband. You've been a good taxpaying citizen of the state of Missouri. That leads me to believe that you are a good man and a changed man."
