--- description: A "clerical error" gave the belated prisoner 13 years to get married, raise children, pay taxes and ultimately gain clemency title: Cornealious "Mike" Anderson Released After Delayed Imprisonment image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde8c6fb7ede3b6ca/69868de3cd804d7b82ccab0e/prison-no-show_wong.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [U.S.](/section/us/) ## U.S. Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [justice](/tag/justice/) ## justice Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Man Imprisoned 13 Years Late Granted Early Release  by [Dan Kedmey](/author/dan-kedmey/)  ## Dan Kedmey Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close May 5, 2014 7:02 PM CUT  Cornealious "Mike" Anderson walks out of the Mississippi County Courthouse along with his wife LaQonna Anderson, right, their daughter Nevaeh, 3, and his attorney Patrick Megaro, left, Monday, May 5, 2014, in Charleston, Mo. Cornealious "Mike" Anderson walks out of the Mississippi County Courthouse along with his wife LaQonna Anderson, right, their daughter Nevaeh, 3, and his attorney Patrick Megaro, left, Monday, May 5, 2014, in Charleston, Mo.Jeff Roberson—AP  by [Dan Kedmey](/author/dan-kedmey/)  ## Dan Kedmey Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close May 5, 2014 7:02 PM CUT A Missouri man who was sent to prison 13 years late after officials discovered no one had told him where to go was granted an [early release](http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/judge-rules-13-year-sentence-man-never-served-complete-n97301 "undefined") on Monday. Judge Terry Lynn Brown commended Cornealious “Mike” Anderson for leading an “exemplary” life outside of prison, NBC News reports. “You’ve been a good father,” the judge said. “You’ve been a good husband. You’ve been a good taxpaying citizen of the state of Missouri.” All of that was thrown into disarray when a SWAT team arrived at Anderson’s house last summer, following up on a 13-year-old conviction for armed robbery. The Missouri Department of Corrections had overlooked his prison sentence due to a “clerical error.” Anderson’s subsequent imprisonment gained national attention when it was featured in an [episode ](http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/518/except-for-that-one-thing "undefined")of _This American Life_. \[[_NBC News_](http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/judge-rules-13-year-sentence-man-never-served-complete-n97301 "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/88087/man-imprisoned-13-years-late-granted-early-release/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/88087/man-imprisoned-13-years-late-granted-early-release/"},"headline":"Man Imprisoned 13 Years Late Granted Early Release","datePublished":"2014-05-05T19:02:26.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T07:39:36.330Z","description":"A \"clerical error\" gave belated prisoner Cornealious \"Mike\" Anderson, who had been convicted of armed robbery more than a decade ago, time to get married, raise children, pay taxes and ultimately gain clemency from a sympathetic judge","url":"https://time.com/88087/man-imprisoned-13-years-late-granted-early-release/","keywords":["justice","Prison","release","robbery","freedom"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde8c6fb7ede3b6ca/69868de3cd804d7b82ccab0e/prison-no-show_wong.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Dan Kedmey","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/dan-kedmey/"}],"articleSection":"U.S.","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde8c6fb7ede3b6ca/69868de3cd804d7b82ccab0e/prison-no-show_wong.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Prison No Show","caption":"Prison No Show","creditText":"Jeff Roberson—AP","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/us/","name":"U.S."}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/justice/","name":"justice"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/88087/man-imprisoned-13-years-late-granted-early-release/","name":"Man Imprisoned 13 Years Late Granted Early Release"}}]}] ```