Armed robber was never told to report to prison
 

ST. LOUIS (AP) ? After he was convicted of armed robbery in 2000, Cornealious Anderson was sentenced to 13 years behind bars and told to await instructions on when and where to report to prison. But those instructions never came.

So Anderson didn't report. He spent the next 13 years turning his life around ? getting married, raising three kids, learning a trade. He made no effort to conceal his identity or whereabouts. Anderson paid taxes and traffic tickets, renewed his driver's license and registered his businesses.

Not until last year did the Missouri Department of Corrections discover the clerical error that kept him free. Now he's fighting for release, saying authorities missed their chance to incarcerate him.

In a single day last July, Anderson's life was turned upside-down.

"They sent a SWAT team to his house," Anderson's attorney, Patrick Megaro, said Wednesday. "He was getting his 3-year-old daughter breakfast, and these men with automatic weapons bang on his door."

Anderson, 37, was taken to Southeast Correctional Center in Charleston, Mo., to begin serving the sentence. A court appeal filed in February asks for him to be freed.

Anderson had just one arrest for marijuana possession on his record when he and a cousin robbed an assistant manager for a St. Charles Burger King restaurant on Aug. 15, 1999. The men, wearing masks, showed a gun (it turned out to be a BB gun) and demanded money that was about to be placed in a deposit box.

The worker gave up the bag of cash, and the masked men drove away. The worker turned in the car's license plate number.

Anderson was convicted and sentenced to 13 years in prison and waited for word on what to do next.

"His attorney said, 'Listen, they're going to get you some day, so just wait for the order,'" Megaro said. "As time goes by, the order never comes. What does a normal person believe? Maybe they forgot about it. It's only human nature to hope they just let it go. He really didn't know what to do.

"A year goes by, two years, five years, 10 years. He's thinking, 'I guess they don't care about me anymore,'" Megaro said.

So Anderson went about his life. Megaro said he was not a fugitive, was never on the run. In fact, just the opposite.

Megaro described Anderson as a model citizen ? a married father who became a carpenter and started three businesses. He paid income and property taxes and kept a driver's license showing his true name and address. When he was pulled over for a couple of traffic violations, nothing showed up indicating he should be in prison.

That's why Anderson was shocked when the marshals arrived.

He now lives among the general population at Charleston. Megaro said Anderson is holding his own? barely.

"He's doing his best to keep his spirits up," Megaro said. "Each day that goes by, more hope is lost. It's a daily struggle for him."

Peter Joy, director of the Criminal Justice Clinic at the Washington University School of Law in St. Louis, said it isn't unusual in a country with such a high prison population for sentences to fall through the cracks. What is unusual, Joy said, is for it to go unnoticed for so long.

"The real tragedy here is that one aspect of prison is the idea of rehabilitation," Joy said. "Here we have somebody who has led a perfect life for 13 years. He did everything right. So he doesn't need rehabilitation."

What happens next isn't clear. Missouri Attorney General Chris Koster on Tuesday filed a court response that said the state is justified in making Anderson serve the sentence.

However, Koster wrote that Megaro could refile the case as an action against the director of the Department of Corrections, which could give Anderson credit for the time he was technically at large.

Megaro doubted that strategy would work. He said the law does not allow credit for time served when the convicted person was not behind bars.

"I don't think that's an option, unfortunately," Megaro said.

Instead, he's relying on case law. The last time anything like this happened in Missouri was 1912. In that case, the convicted man was set free, Megaro said.

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Pretty crazy, good luck to that guy.

What is it you do in adult biz, Donkey Kong?

They should let him go. Thats crazy and stupid.

I don't think it's very fair to the other armed robbers out there doing time to just let him go.

Or the guy he robbed :2 cents:

He seemed to fix himself during his time being free.
Hard choice to make as a judge. I would opt for letting him serve his time our of jail.
Perhaps let it be known this is a special case. He turned his life around. However he must be punished in someway.
A few weekends away from his family to make him remember what he did wrong and then since he is a carpenter and is doing well. Perhaps some community service which uses his talents. So he can give something back to the community he lives in.

13 years for armed robbery with a BB gun seems pretty harsh anyway

A BB gun is a gateway gun.

:1orglaugh:1orglaugh wtf you talking about??

Marihuana leads to heroin and BB guns lead to machine guns

:1orglaugh:1orglaugh:1orglaugh:1orglaugh:1orglaugh

Free the dude.

He was standing right there in court when convicted and they let him walk out and
never called him back. Fuck them, they fucked up.

The guy could have called in everyday asking when to report and gotten the same "we don't know yet" every time.

Guess the race.

I would set him free. Waiting for 13 years for sentence and wondering every day when they will pick him up to serve it was a punishment already. He was also aware that he must behave good and so he did. To me it's useless sending him to prison now... It will just create damage to his wife and kids and the punishment will not serve the purpose... the main problem is - how to fit that into today's law.

The hardest part of doing time is the waiting to be sentenced. Once it starts there is this relief that it has began and the time just clicks on by. On the run, it is always on your mind waiting, wondering. I can not imagine the stress this man had over the years. Even if he came to a point that he felt it was over, he knew down deep it wasn't. I see it as a horrible metal abuse. He could of brought attention to their mistake but it is what it is. Sounds to me as he was in a prison. He done well. I'd say let it be.

If I were the judge I would give him the Nights and weekends package. Spends his weekends and nights in jail but other wise works etc..

My vote is to let the guy walk:

1. He's clearly cleaned his act up.
2. It seems silly to waste a jail cell on him when there's a limitless supply of
   more deserving candidates waiting to be similarly housed.

No need to worry about setting a "dangerous" precedent here either. I mean after all,
the phrase "once a thief, always a thief" really does apply 99.9% of the time.

I was watching TrueTV a lot ~5-7 years ago (Forensic Files I believe) and one dude was arrested for murder. He was ~25 when he did it and he was ~70 when detectives finally found him and arrested. He had grandchildren already by this time.

If he was a white guy, they'd be letting him go. Would have probably let him off easy for the armed robbery in the first place. :1orglaugh

Gov. Jay Nixon really needs to get the message here: this man did something illegal and stupid several years ago; he then made deliberate effort to live an honest and hard working life, became a loyal father and husband, took responsibility for his family and himself and is a decent and positively contributing member to society. Who would report to prison if not being told to? Just show up at random and suggest to live behind bars? This is an error on the side of "JUSTICE," and this man is not evil, harmful or dangerous toward others. He already has served his time--working diligently to take care of his family and worrying about his freedom. This is just not right, to say he now must go to prison. I am white. I think if he were too, they'd be giving him a pardon. They need to buck up, admit THEIR mistake, forgive him for his and let this father, husband and good man stay free! This is the kind of story that puts our judicial system to SHAME!

I can't believe that you don't get taken to prison straight from the court - I don't think they do that here - It seems strange...

Line, hook and sinker :thumbsup

.44 mag in the other hand just in case :2 cents::2 cents: