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Woman Convicted In Deaths Of Young Sons On Work Release

By Matt Kroschel

MESA COUNTY, Colo. (CBS4) - After only serving a little over two years of a 10-year sentence following the deaths of her two toddler sons, Heather Jensen convicted in the killings is out of prison and in a work release program, CBS4 has learned.

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CBS4's Matt Kroschel interviews Heather Jensen (credit: CBS)

Jensen was sentenced to serve her time at the Denver's Women's Correctional Facility on March 31, 2014. But according to records obtained by CBS4, Jensen was accepted into a community corrections work release program in July of this year. It was a decision the grandparents of the two boys who died were not informed of until this week, according to the family.

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Heather Jensen in court for the verdict (credit: CBS)

The Department of Corrections confirmed if the family registers through the victims assistance program they should have been notified of the community corrections move.

Jensen was convicted and sentenced to nearly a decade, but at sentencing the judge could have given Jensen anywhere from four to 16 years in prison for each of two counts of child abuse resulting in death with negligence.

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Heather Jensen posted photos of William and Tyler on her Facebook page. (credit: Facebook)

The children died after a bizarre incident in November 2012 on the Grand Mesa in Western Colorado. Prosecutors say Jensen was in a man's car while the children were in her SUV left running with the heat running -- alone.

Heather Jensen
Heather Jensen (credit: Mesa County Sheriff)

The deaths were determined to be the result of hyperthermia, or overheating.

The children were found in a Toyota 4Runner near the Powderhorn Ski Area. Tyler, 4, and his brother William, 2, both died.

Heather Jensen
Heather Jensen appears in court in Grand Junction via videocamera on Feb. 5, 2013. (credit: CBS)

CBS4's Matt Kroschel interviewed Jensen on Tuesday and she says she's serving a life sentence regardless if she's incarcerated or not.

"It's very hard waking up and not my boys being there," Jensen told CBS4. "It's a life sentence regardless ... even if I didn't go to prison, or if I'm still in there. It's a life sentence because I don't get to watch them grow up ... I would do anything in the world to get that back."

"We thought we were cheated when she got sentenced for only five years for each child from the get go," said the boys' grandfather Robert Mathena. "It's like getting double stabbed in the back."

Jensen says she can't take back what happened but is still trying to move forward.

Jensen is eligible for parole Oct. 12, 2017. Her sentence is scheduled to expire October 2020.

Matt Kroschel covers news throughout Colorado working from the CBS4 Mountain Newsroom. Send story ideas to mrkroschel@cbs.com and connect with him on Twitter @Matt_Kroschel.

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