Trending Topics

Colo. House: Clemency for inmate released 90 years early

Lawmakers called Rene Lima-Marin’s continued incarceration and separation from his family “cruel and unusual punishment”

renelimamarinART-3.jpg

In this May 7, 2014, file photo, Rene Lima-Marin sits for an interview with The Associated Press about the circumstances of his sentencing and incarceration in a meeting room inside Kit Carson Correctional Center, a privately operated prison in Burlington, Colo.

AP Photo/Brennan Linsley, File

Associated Press

DENVER — Colorado’s House has unanimously endorsed a resolution urging the governor to grant clemency to a convict who was returned to prison after being mistakenly released 90 years early and reforming his life.

Republicans and Democrats spoke for the resolution Friday, which calls Rene Lima-Marin’s continued incarceration and separation from his family “cruel and unusual punishment.”

Lima-Marin was sentenced in 2000 to 98 years in prison after being convicted of robbery, kidnapping and burglary. He and another man robbed two video stores at gunpoint.

A clerk’s mistake allowed him to be paroled in 2008. He started a family and got a regular job after his release.

Authorities realized the mistake in January 2014, and police returned him to prison to complete his sentence.