Posted on 04/17/2014 1:07:45 AM PDT by Michael.SF.
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
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
This guy should be sentenced to 13 years probation with credit for time served.
Unless he harmed somebody, there should be a limitation on how long the state can withhold punishment, before it becomes invalid.
Yes, I’d probably release him on probation. He was once a BB gun wielding crook, but since then he’s apparently been decent. Seems he’s realized long ago that he wasn’t cut out to be a bad guy. Silly to lock him up after all these years. Boy, what a case. Hope he wins.
The governor has the power to relieve the guy of his sentence. If I were the governor, I’d ask for an independent review....sit over it for a week to consider risks, and just give the guy a suspension. The guy was that one out of a hundred who needed a kick in the pants to get himself motivated. Most wouldn’t have cleaned themselves up. Besides, if you imprison the guy....you the taxpayer end up paying for his period in jail....are you getting any value?
I think they owe him for the stress he and his family lived under every waking moment because of their incompetence. He did as he was told. I would call this cruel and unusual punishment on it’s on. To throw him in jail now would be a form of torture by being stripped of his family, loved ones and his freedom. Jail is not a happy place to live.
Riight, so says the AP.
And what evidence do you have to the contrary?
sounds as if he sent enhanced himself essentially to house arrest, like so many today that go home to wear ankle bracelets
if the poit of the punishment is to rehabilitate the offender, well... it’d be hard to argue he would have received more rehibilitation in prison than he has already received thru self imposed restrictions and life changes
Random drug testing twice a week for 90 days...If he comes in positive three times during that period, give him 10 days in the county lockup.
I tend to be on the harsh end of the punishment scale, but in the absence of evidence that he is a danger to society I’d support “time served”. Prison is expensive, and this guy is not a threat that is worth the money. [If he’d been shot and killed when using “only a bb gun” I wouldn’t have minded at all, but he survived, followed the rules, and deserves forgiveness from the courts and from society.]
What he has is an AP news story on Yahoo. Not what I would call an outstanding association of journalistic accuracy.
His lawyer was an ass to begin with and should have warned the guy to turn himself in. He was convicted of a crime but never served a day and it caught up to him. He was 24 when he did the crime, not a kid and it was armed robbery regardless if it was a BB gun or not.
When Obama & holder lets all the drug dealers go because it was “unfair” I expect the FRs that think this AP story is an unfortunate incident to be cheering for the druggies.
Howzabout consulting with the victim who’d been threatened with loss of life over Burger King’s money?
Again, do you have evidence to the contrary?
All these points married, raising kids correctly, becoming a tradesmen, becoming a business owner supporting his family are all verifiable facts.
His lawyer and Obama are irrelevant.
It is not his job to ask to be allowed into prison.
Especially now with prison over crowding, the main point of a correctional facility to correct behavior not punish past behavior.
You want to take a spot from a hardened lifelong criminal to incarcerate a guy who has been an upstanding family man for 13 years and put his family on Welfare? That is nuts.
According to this guy, who’s got a petition up, the victim says he should walk.
Do you have evidence to the contrary outside of a news story? When AP writes a story it’s probably skewed to their way of thinking.
Armed Robbery is Armed Robbery and it’s still Armed Robbery if you only do it once.
His lawyer is very relevant.. Obama is irrelevant any time I’ll give you that.
If it was up to me I’d wipe the books clean, shake his hand, and say have a happy life.
Citizen robs store, sentenced to jail at a cost of $35-40K per year to house him. 13 years at $35K = $455,000 +/- (not peanuts) and a MAJOR cost savings to the state since they never had to house him.
Same citizen works for 13 year and pays his taxes (whatever that turns out to be), thus CONTRIBUTING to the states coffers. (More money for the state). The state ACTUALLY made (saved) money by NOT putting him in prison.
If they send him to prison now, he should sue the state for ALL his expenses during his “wait time” and INCLUDE the money the state “saved” (did not spend on his care) by NOT spending it on his housing and care during the LONG wait period. (Does all that make sense?)
Well this sounds like something with the potential to tie-up our entire Federal court system for at LEAST another 13 years.
I, too tend to be a “law & order” type of guy. However, prison can be categorized several ways:
1) Restraint of the criminal for the protection of society
2) Retribution for the acts committed against individuals & society.
3) Penitentiary, a place for the criminal to begin “feeling or expressing humble or regretful pain or sorrow for sins or offenses.” (definition of “Penitent”)
4) Reformatory, a place which causes the criminal to “reform”, to turn their life around and become a productive, law-abiding citizen.
As to #1 - It appears the criminal practiced self-restraint during the 13 years and society was protected.
#2 - The victim of his crime seems to no longer require retribution.
#3 & #4 - Appear to be successful, with a 13 year track record. “By their fruits you shall know them.” Matt 7:16-20
The governor should commute his sentence. After all do we incarcerate people convicted of a criminal act just so we can enjoy punishing them, or in the hopes that they will decide to never violate the law again? If anything, this person’s repentance saved the State over $100,000 in incarceration costs, not to mention the loss of tax revenue over the same time.
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