The Missouri convict who avoided jail time due to a clerical error is a free man — again.
Cornealious (Mike) Anderson discussed his first night home on the “Today” show Tuesday, and said he was overwhelmed and thankful to be back with his family.
Anderson was locked up last July when officials realized they never sent him to jail after he was convicted in 2000. On Monday, Judge Terry Lynn Brown granted Anderson’s request for release, NBC News reported.
“You’ve been a good father. You’ve been a good husband. You’ve been a good taxpaying citizen of the State of Missouri,” Brown said. “That leads me to believe that you are a good man and a changed man.”
Even the victim of Anderson’s crime advocated for his release.
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During those nine months, Anderson refused to let his family visit him in prison. His four kids hadn’t seen him since last summer.
“I don’t think any child should have to see their father or loved one like that,” he said on “Today.” “I didn’t want my children to feel that that was normal, something that’s acceptable.”
Anderson was convicted in 2000 and sentenced to 13 years in prison after he helped rob a Burger King manager. But Missouri never told him where or when to report.
Instead, he got married, had four children, started his own businesses and led a crime-free life.
It was only when the system went to “release” him in July 2013 that officials realized their mistake. Since last summer, Anderson’s been in a maximum-security Missouri prison.
“I missed my husband. I missed my best friend. My kids missed their father,” Anderson’s wife, LaQonna, said on “Today.”
LaQonna, who married Anderson after he was convicted and mistakenly not put in jail, said she never knew about her husband’s criminal past.
“He didn’t want to put that burden on me,” she said.
Anderson’s lawyer, Patrick Megaro, said the crime doesn’t set a legal precedent, but the story has a good moral.
“If you do the right thing, good things will happen,” he said on “Today.” “In your life and in the law as well.”
