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Man mistakenly freed 90 years too soon tells judge he’s reformed his life
Rene Lima-Marin in 2014. (AP Photo/Brennan Linsley)

Man mistakenly freed 90 years too soon tells judge he’s reformed his life

It started as a simple clerical error, but what happened totally changed one Colorado prisoner's life.

Rene Lima-Marin, 35, was convicted in 2000 on multiple counts of armed robbery, kidnapping and burglary after he and his partner in crime, Michael Clifton, robbed two video stores. Lima-Marin was given eight sentences to be served consecutively, totaling 98 years in prison.

But in 2008, he was released on parole due to a clerical error that counted his sentences concurrently rather than consecutively, according to the Denver Post.

Before returning to prison in 2014, when the error was caught, Lima-Marin was flourishing in his law-abiding second chance. He had a steady and successful job as a glazier, had gotten married, adopted his wife's son and the two had a child of their own before law enforcement realized their mistake.

So on Wednesday, Lima-Marin appealed to a judge to allow him to return to the life he made for himself during this momentary freedom.

During the hearing, Judge Carlos Samour Jr. said he would take his time before issuing a decision at the Arapahoe County District Court.

"I’m not going to give you a time frame because I want to take my time with it," he said.

Lima-Marin, who was given the 98-year sentence because of crimes he committed when he was 19 years old, reminded the judge that no one was hurt when he robbed the two stores in 1998.

"I was a stupid child, a dumb kid that made a mistake. I was given trumped-up charges for who knows what reason," he argued. "I deserve to be punished, I admit that, but not 98 years."

The freed inmate also pleaded with Samour, describing the life he had established in his brief rendezvous with freedom.

"I’ve been taken away from my children and my wife. I don’t even know how to explain that that’s the thing that’s consistently on my mind every single day," Lima-Marin said emotionally. "I’m supposed to be the head of my household, I’m the person — I’m the person that’s supposed to guide and lead them of everything that’s of God, and I’ve been taken away from them."

Following his accidental release, Lima-Marin had five spotless years on parole and led a respectable life in Aurora. Nevertheless, prosecutors said he shouldn't be freed because they believe he knew of the error and chose not to inform authorities but instead sought to create a life for himself.

Lima-Marin, for his part, said he did not knowingly overlook the error, telling the court, "All I knew was my prayers had been answered."

Jamie Halscott, Lima-Marin's attorney, criticized officials at the Colorado Department of Corrections for their suggestion that his client purposefully gamed the system. "Obviously, when the state doesn’t have much to go on, that’s what they’re going to say," he said.

Serving as a character witness, Lima-Marin's wife, Jasmine, told the court about the man she married, sharing with the judge a story about her husband's favorite red coat.

Jasmine Lima-Marin (AP Photo/Brennan Linsley)

During a tough snowstorm one season, Jasmine said, Lima-Marin wore his red jacket to a pizza joint. When the pair left the restaurant, though, his coat was no where to be found.

When Jasmine asked her spouse what happened to the jacket, she said he told her he had given it to a homeless man who complimented him on it.

"He’s a changed person. He’s been rehabilitated," Jasmine said. "He’s shown that he can be a productive member of society. I don’t think it’s going to accomplish anything by making him spend his life in prison."

In 2000, Lima-Marin had filed his own appeal of his sentence. However, in a rare move, he withdrew the appeal less than a year later. Prosecutors used that to argue he knew about the clerical mistake and didn't want to risk it being noticed by calling additional attention to his case.

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