Cornealious "Mike" Anderson committed robbery with a BB gun on Aug. 15, 1999. He was found guilty of armed robbery in 2000 and sentenced to serve 13 years...but he didn't.

Nor did he run or hide from the law. In fact, he remained in the St. Louis, Missouri, area. He inquired about serving his sentence and was told to wait for the court's instructions on reporting to prison (Officer.com, April 17, 2014) .

So he waited...and waited.

Because of a clerical error, he wasn't contacted for years which postponed his sentence. Anderson simply lived his life. He married and raised children. He worked and paid taxes. He updated his drivers license and ran three different businesses.

About the time Anderson should have completed his sentence, the Missouri Department of Corrections found the error and had a SWAT team pick him up at his home. Then he had to fight to be released.

“I never felt like a fugitive," Anderson said, "because a fugitive's someone that's running from the law. I never ran from the law. I was there" (UPI.com).

Tim Lohmar, the current prosecutor told TODAY, "I believe that if we allowed somebody to avoid an incarceration sentence, it's just a slippery slope’’ (UPI.com/TODAY.com).

Over 35,000 signatures on Change.org called for the state of Missouri to release Anderson. He served nearly a year in prison while waiting for his hearing.

"Mississippi County Associate Circuit Judge Terry Lynn Brown needed just a 10-minute hearing before ruling that he was giving Anderson credit for time served for all 4,794 days between his conviction and when he was arrested last year" (Officer.com, May 6, 2014).

On May 5, 2014, Mike Anderson walked out of court a truly free man.


Resources:

Hastings, Deborah, "Missouri man who never served sentence awaits prison term after leading crime-free life," NYdailynews.com, April 15, 2014.

Salter, Jim, "Man freed in Mo. delayed imprisonment case," Officer.com, May 6, 2014.

Salter, Jim, "Missouri convict was never told to report to prison," Officer.com, April 17, 2014.

Sevcik, JC, "Man who didn't serve prison sentence due to clerical error arrested 15 years later," UPI.com, April 15, 2014.

Stump, Scott, "Man who never served prison sentence on clerical error awaits fate," Today.com, April 15, 2014.

As portrayed in Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter, there was a time when Puritan society would punish offenders by shaming them. Some current creative sentences are ridiculed as nothing more than public shaming. However, others believe they are more valuable than jail time for nonviolent offenders.

Some judges devise teachable moments by ordering offenders to read books, tutor students, take classes, write reports, clean parks, send letters, or repaint buildings they had tagged with graffiti. For nonviolent offenders, these may be better punishments than having taxpayers pay the bill for jail sentences in already overcrowded facilities.

You may have read about the sentence given to an Ohio woman after she plead guilty for driving on a sidewalk, around a school bus, while children were exiting. In addition to a fine and suspended license, "Municipal Judge Pinkey Carr ordered Hardin to two days of standing on a corner during rush hour traffic, holding a sign that said, Only an idiot would drive on the sidewalk to avoid a school bus" (News.Yahoo.com)

Ohio State University law professor Doug Berman says, "When done well by the right folks with the right idea in mind, creative sentencing can be a good thing.  There are lots of folks for whom prison may do more harm than good, not just for themselves but for society” (Rockwallheraldbanner.com).

According to the Worcester Telegram, Massachusetts Western Worcester District Court Judge Paul L. McGill has five considerations when determining a sentence for a defendant:

• Punishment
• Rehabilitation
• Protection of the Public
• Restitution
• Detriment to Society

“Jail time is one option, but we see people get released and re-offend time and time again, so obviously that doesn't work for them,” he explained. “Then we look at what else we can do” (Telegram.com).

Creative sentences are unusual punishments tailored to the crime and designed to rehabilitate the offender. Consider a few more extreme examples from the Web.

A mother and daughter (ages 56 and 35) stole a pair of gift cards from a girl in a Walmart. Rather than jail time, the two opted for probation and a 4 1/2 hour stint in front of the courthouse holding a sign that read, "I stole from a 9-year-old on her birthday! Don't steal or this could happen to you!" (Publicengines.com).

A Buffalo, N.Y., pizzeria owner charged with tax fraud was sentenced to pay back taxes and deliver 12 sheet pizzas to the City Mission every Tuesday for a year (WIVB.com).

Ohio Judge Michael Cicconetti is well-known for delivering unusual sentences. In one case, he sent a man who'd been charged with disturbing the peace to sit alone in the woods for an hour of silence. He had a woman spend a night in the woods after dumping more than 30 kittens, some of which died (Newsnet5.com).

After destroying a baby Jesus statue from in front of a church, Judge Cicconetti sentenced a couple "to lead a donkey through the streets with an apology sign saying: Sorry for the jackass offense" (Newsnet5.com). In a much harsher sentence, he sent a drunken driver to view two dead bodies from car accidents (Telegram.com).

Some deride these punishments. Asked by an ABC affiliate to explain his sentences, Cicconetti said, "Can't stone 'em anymore. If they learn from it, that's what justice is all about" (News.Yahoo.com).

No we can't stone them, not literally. Are sentences like the ones mentioned here well-suited to the crime, judicial bullying, or just wacky? You be the judge.

Resources:

• Browning, John, "Letting Punishment Fit the Crime," Rockwallheraldbanner.com, 7-21-2012.
• Christian Science Monitor, "10 Weird Criminal Sentences," News.Yahoo.com, 1-9-2013.
• Gunter, James, "Creative Sentencing: Public Humiliation," Publicengines.com, 11-9-2009.
• Hall, Lauran, "Creative Sentencing for Pizzeria Owner," WIVB.com, 10-19-2010.
• Ring, Kim, "Judges Turning to Creative Sentencing," Telegram.com, 1-25-2013.
• Seitz, Colleen, "Creative Sentences: Chicken Suits, Kiddie Pool, Blindfold, Jackass Offense Sign, Pigs," Newsnet5.com, 11-14-2012.