Prisoner freed 90 years early appeals sentence

A Colorado convict sent back to prison after being mistakenly released 90 years early says it was cruel and unusual punishment to put him back behind bars after he reformed his life.

An appeal filed Wednesday in the case of Rene Lima-Marin also says his constitutional rights were violated when a judge in January ordered him to finish his sentence after he started a family during nearly six years of freedom.

A judge in 2000 sentenced Lima-Marin to a total of 98 years in prison for multiple counts of robbery, kidnapping and burglary after he and another man robbed two video stores at gunpoint. But a clerk’s mistake allowed him to be paroled in 2008.

He held a job, married and had a son before authorities realized the mistake.