In 1999, Cornealius "Mike" Anderson assisted in a robbery of a Burger King in St. Louis. He was ordered to serve 13 years in prison for the crime, but the police simply never came for him, so he went on with an average life.
Now, 13 years after posting bond and returning home from the appeals process, the authorities have realized a clerical error allowed Anderson to get out of his sentence scot-free, according to Today.
Anderson waited and waited to be ordered to begin his sentence, but the day never came. It turns out that the state thought Anderson was already in jail serving his time.
NY Daily News reports that in those years after his sentencing, Anderson married, had four children, joined a church and even started several of his own businesses.
His idyllic life ended abruptly when state officials realized their mistake last summer and came knocking on Anderson's door to drag him off to jail.
Today, Anderson is again left waiting, this time for a new sentencing to be passed down from the state Attorney General's office. It's unclear if the state will convict him once more to save face or allow him to stay free after proving himself a productive member of society.
"It’s just very hard," Anderson’s wife, LaQonna Anderson, told Today. "And I miss my husband very, very much. My kids miss their father."
An online petition at Change.org to release Anderson has garnered more than 18,000 signatures.