Federal inmates released at wrong time due to staff error, report says

WASHINGTON – Staff error resulted in 152 federal inmates being freed after their correct release dates between 2009 and 2014, including three who spent more than an extra year behind bars, according to a report released Tuesday by the Justice Department watchdog.

The inspector general report counted a total of 4,340 Bureau of Prisons inmates who received “untimely” releases during those years.

Of those cases, 157 were classified by the bureau as due to “staff errors,” such as employees who misapplied credit for time served, the report stated. Just five of those mistakes led to early releases, and none was charged with new crimes after they were freed; in the rest, inmates served more time than they should have, with one prisoner serving roughly three additional years.

“Late releases from prison deprive inmates of their liberty, while early releases can put communities at risk if the inmates are dangerous,” the report said.

The overwhelming majority of “untimely” releases were for reasons that the prison bureau said were beyond its control, such as sentences that were changed by court orders after the inmate had begun serving them. In some instances, an inmate had already served more time than the new sentence imposed.

In a statement, Justice Department spokesman Patrick Rodenbush noted that 4,183 of the “‘untimely releases’ are the result of court initiated actions and are not errors of any type.”

“That being said, the Department of Justice is already taking affirmative steps to implement the recommendations of the Office of the Inspector General to further reduce instances of inappropriate untimely releases occurring,” Rodenbush said in a statement.

Those recommendations include tasking the Justice Department and Bureau of Prisons with improving training and establishing a process to notify prosecutors and court officials of untimely releases.

The inspector general’s review followed news reports in 2014 of an inmate held for 13 months beyond his correct release date. That suit was ultimately settled for $175,000, the report says.