Petition calls for exoneration of Michael Cornelius Anderson
A Change.org petition is calling for the release of a man who the system simply forgot to charge.
Michael Cornelius Anderson was convicted in 2000 of armed robbery, but for some reason, authorities didn’t arrest him until 13 years later.
He appealed several times, and during that process he posted bond and went home. When his appeals ultimately failed, law enforcement should have re-arrested him and taken him to prison to serve his sentence. But for reasons that are still unclear, that didn’t happen. Anderson remained free.
In that time he didn’t change his name, move away or in any other way evade capture — there was simply no one looking for him. Instead he got married, became a father of four, a homeowner and a master carpenter living in a home he built himself in Webster Groves.
The petition, created by Florida resident Patrick Megaro, calls for Anderson’s release:
“If he is required to serve the sentence, he will be 50 years old when he is released. His kids will have grown up without a father, his wife will have had to raise 4 children alone, and they will lose their home and business – everything he had worked so hard to attain in the last 13 years of leading a normal life.
The victim of the robbery believes that Mike Anderson should not be forced to now serve a 13- year sentence, and believes the State of Missouri dropped the ball. He has said that he believes it would serve no purpose in now incarcerating this man.”
Should Anderson be freed? Or forced to pay for a error made by the police?
Sound off below!
