Story Archive

Rehabilitation

When Cornealious Anderson, 37, was convicted of armed robbery in St. Louis, Mo., he was sentenced to 13 years in prison — and told to “await instructions on when and where to report” for his sentence. He waited ... and waited. After 13 years of waiting, the Missouri Department of Corrections realized its clerical error. “They sent a SWAT team to his house,” says Anderson’s attorney, Patrick Megaro. “He was getting his 3-year-old daughter breakfast, and these men with automatic weapons bang on his door.” While waiting for the state, Anderson got married, got a job, paid his taxes, and lived openly under his real name. The SWAT team hauled him off to prison. Megaro has filed a motion for Anderson’s release, saying the state had its chance to imprison him, but missed that chance. (RC/AP) ...The state was just mad that when they went to let him out, they suddenly realized why he wasn’t there.