Man released, after serving four extra years due to clerical error

Here’s an odd one (from the Idaho Statesman):

It began Aug. 7, 1997, when Hernandez was returning to his job at a potato shed in Aberdeen from Wyoming, where he’d dropped his kids with their mom. During a traffic stop in Soda Springs, a policeman saw Zig-Zag cigarette papers on the car’s visor. Hernandez says he admitted to having a small amount of pot. With the help of a drug dog, police also found a syringe, which tested positive for cocaine.

Hernandez insisted the coke wasn’t his, but signed a plea deal. Hernandez, his lawyer, the prosecutor and 6th District Judge Don Harding agreed he would serve at least one year in prison, but no more than two years.

The critical error occurred after sentencing on June 23, 1998. Because of a mixup with case numbers, Harding also sentenced Hernandez to up to seven years, a term intended for another offender…

To their credit, a Department of Corrections officer finally caught the mistake and they are releasing Hernandez after he served an extra four years.
He’ll finally get to meet his five-year-old son Andreas for the first time.