US man freed after being sent to jail 13 years late

Jodell88

Diamond Member
Jan 29, 2007
8,762
30
91
A US man, who authorities forgot to send to prison for 13 years, has been released after 10 months behind bars.
Cornealious ``Mike'' Anderson was sentenced in 2000 for armed robbery but only sent to prison in July last year.
In that time he got married twice, had children and started several businesses.
He said he made no attempt to hide his identity from the authorities, and even reminded them about his sentence.
Anderson said he was "very happy" after being released on Monday.
"My faith has always been in God, I'm just so thankful, thank God for everything," he said after the verdict.
Judge Terry Lynn Brown praised Anderson's behaviour since his conviction, saying: "You've been a good father. You've been a good husband. You've been a good taxpaying citizen of the state of Missouri.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-27285840
 

lupi

Lifer
Apr 8, 2001
32,539
260
126
Odd, I remember reading this story a couple weeks ago but must not have caught the original date. Didn't realize he had been re-arrested so long ago.
 

pete6032

Diamond Member
Dec 3, 2010
7,867
3,357
136
Question:

How different would this man's life be if he had actually spent those 13 years in jail and just been released today? Over the long term would he be a better member of society having served the sentence, or not having served it?
 

fleshconsumed

Diamond Member
Feb 21, 2002
6,486
2,363
136
Probably the right thing to do. As much as it rubs me the wrong way to have an armed robbery go unpunished, it really does sound like he turned his life around and has been law abiding citizen ever since. Putting him in jail now will do more harm than good.
 

alkemyst

No Lifer
Feb 13, 2001
83,769
19
81
He paid his price everytime he passed a police officer that looked at him oddly.
 

CountZero

Golden Member
Jul 10, 2001
1,796
36
86
He paid his price everytime he passed a police officer that looked at him oddly.

Not really. I don't disagree with the court's decision but the situation was a fluke. Had he committed another crime I doubt anyone would say a little cop paranoia was "paying his price".
 

alkemyst

No Lifer
Feb 13, 2001
83,769
19
81
Not really. I don't disagree with the court's decision but the situation was a fluke. Had he committed another crime I doubt anyone would say a little cop paranoia was "paying his price".

Have you ever been on the run? If so, how did you feel when you saw local law enforcement walking to you?
 

thraashman

Lifer
Apr 10, 2000
11,112
1,585
126
Not really. I don't disagree with the court's decision but the situation was a fluke. Had he committed another crime I doubt anyone would say a little cop paranoia was "paying his price".

I feel that prison needs to be primarily about rehabilitation of those who can be. Punishment and protection of society are other factors as well. This man showed he rehabilitated himself and was no threat to society so the only reason to keep him locked up was punishment. It was more detrimental to society than it was beneficial to keep him locked up.
 

edro

Lifer
Apr 5, 2002
24,326
68
91
This is basically an extreme example of how probation is supposed to work.
 

BladeVenom

Lifer
Jun 2, 2005
13,365
16
0
If he stayed out of trouble for 13 years, it was kind of stupid to send him to prison for 10 months.
 

KeithP

Diamond Member
Jun 15, 2000
5,662
199
106
If he stayed out of trouble for 13 years, it was kind of stupid to send him to prison for 10 months.

Of course we don't actually know if he stayed out of trouble, all we know is that he was never caught doing anything.

-KeithP
 

Sonikku

Lifer
Jun 23, 2005
15,803
4,670
136
The purpose of prison isn't to rehabilitate; It's to dehabilitate. If it were meant for the opposite purpose than our prison system would be making all the wrong moves in achieving it's goal. Send the man for 13 years at tax payer expense, let the kids fend for themselves and when he has a criminal record, serious psychological issues and no hope of holding down a minimum wage job, THEN let him out.
 

Rakehellion

Lifer
Jan 15, 2013
12,181
35
91
Have you ever been on the run? If so, how did you feel when you saw local law enforcement walking to you?

First of all, he wasn't on the run. He tried to turn himself in. And you'd have to be a giant pussy to be afraid of someone staring at you.
 

DaveSimmons

Elite Member
Aug 12, 2001
40,730
670
126
This is basically an extreme example of how probation is supposed to work.

Yep. As far as we can tell he turned his life around and stayed out of trouble for 13 years. Since he did nothing to hide and even reported their failure to collect him I'd say he shouldn't even have spent the 10 months in prison.

Rehabilitate those we can, harvest the organs of the rest. It's the sensible thing to do.
 

1sikbITCH

Diamond Member
Jan 3, 2001
4,194
574
126
Question:

How different would this man's life be if he had actually spent those 13 years in jail and just been released today? Over the long term would he be a better member of society having served the sentence, or not having served it?

Duh. If he served the time he might be even more committed to turning around the lives of the whole community, maybe even the nation, and then one day......


HE COULD CHANGE THE UNIVERSE!!!bunch of echoes here"
GODS might have trembled at mere mention of his name...
:eek:

We'll never know now. What a waste.