A Look At Mistaken Prisoner-Release Cases

DENVER (AP) — A look at cases in which clerical errors allowed inmates to evade prison time:

EVAN EBEL: A clerical error allowed this Colorado prison inmate to be released four years early, in January 2013. Ebel, 28, is suspected of killing a Denver computer technician and Colorado prisons chief Tom Clements in March 2013. He fled to Texas, where he was killed in a shootout with authorities. Ebel was to serve four years for assaulting a prison guard after an eight-year term for several crimes, including robbery. A clerk mistakenly wrote in his file that the four-year sentence was concurrent.

CORNEALIOUS "MIKE" ANDERSON: In Missouri, a 23-year-old Anderson was sentenced to 13 years in the robbery of a fast-food restaurant assistant manager. He asked about going to prison but an order never came. A trial court clerk failed to inform the Missouri Supreme Court that Anderson was free on bond after his conviction. When the mistake was discovered, Anderson, now 35, was jailed for nearly a year before being freed this week. A judge found he had turned his life around while a free man.

JOHNNY MATA: In California, this Los Angeles murder suspect was freed because of a clerical error. He was captured in Mexico this week and returned to the United States. Mata , 34, was freed last April after a clerk failed to enter a hold order for the reputed gang member in a computer. He is charged in a 2010 shooting death.

RENE LIMA-MARIN: This Colorado inmate was supposed to serve 98 years in prison for kidnapping, armed robbery and other crimes. A court clerk wrote that his sentences were to be served concurrently — eight years total — instead of consecutively. He was freed after eight years and told no one for six more years until the mistake was discovered in January. He is serving the rest of his original sentence.

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