Former Prison Inmate Rene Lima-Marin Sent Back For 90 Years Over Clerical Error Despite Being Rehabilitated

Rene Lima-Marin is a former prison inmate who served eight years of his sentence, only to be released based upon a clerical error. Now his family says he’s a different man than the person who entered prison and that there is not any reason for him to serve the remaining 90 years in his original prison sentence.

In a related report by The Inquisitr, some pastors say even Jesus would call for an end to the war on drugs because of the way some people are locked away for years while others who have committed violent crimes are released earlier. For example, one man is serving life in prison because of being caught possessing marijuana three times. Now even a Nobel prize winner is claiming the war on drugs is morally wrong based upon the results so far.

Now Lima-Marin’s crime did not involve drugs, but he was convicted of two crimes he committed in Colorado. Back in 2000, when Rene was only 20-years-old, he and his partner robbed two video stores at gunpoint. Descriptions of the robberies are vague, but no mention is made of any violence or whether or not someone was killed as a result. Regardless, Lima-Marin and his partner were sentenced to serve back-to-back sentences on eight convictions, which would resulted in 98 years in prison.

But in 2008 Rene Lima-Marin was released from prison because a court clerk wrote down that these prison sentences would be served at the same time, which reduced the sentence to eight years. The only reason this mistake was caught was because another prison inmate was released too early on accident and went on to kill a corrections officer at his front door. This error led to an audit of all of Colorado’s prison sentences and now officials are claiming Rene knew his early release was a mistake but purposefully did not tell authorities.

According to Lima-Marin’s wife, Jasmine, her husband has been completely rehabilitated. They married last year shortly after celebrating five years of parole. The now 35-year-old man rebuilt his life by learning a trade as a window installer, served in his church, and also helped his community as a soccer coach. The couple has two sons and now Jasmine says her husband will miss the birthday party of the youngest due to an error. She also dismissed the idea that her husband knew he should still be in prison:

“That was his life, raising his kids and being a husband. He definitely was not the same person that he was when he went in to prison…. We don’t have secrets. If he knew there was a mistake, he would have told me.”

Rich Orman, an Arapahoe County senior deputy district attorney, disagrees that Rene should be released from his remaining 90 years:

“He should go back because the law requires the sentence he received. This was a number of very serious criminal offenses, and anything less would be inappropriate. He should not be able to escape the minimum sentence due to a clerical error.”

The family of Rene Lima-Marin is devastated by the decision. They’re filing an appeal and they argue that the purpose of prison is rehabilitation, which is intended to change criminals into law abiding citizens. Jasmine believes the eight years that her husband has already served has done its job and there’s no point in sending him back for 90 years due to his clean history since 2008.