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Jail error is trouble for man set free

The man released early from the county jail makes his case today before the judge who ordered him to serve the rest of his sentence.

By JONATHAN ABEL
Published August 4, 2006

BROOKSVILLE - It wasn't until he picked up the newspaper on Saturday that Joel G. Ford realized he got out of jail too soon.

In May, the 22-year-old Ford was released 69 days early because of a clerical error at the Hernando County Jail.

When the mistake became public last week, Circuit Judge Stephen Rushing ordered Ford to surrender himself by 5 p.m. Tuesday and to serve the remainder of his sentence at the jail.

But before Ford returned to jail, he sent an anguished letter to the court asking for "mercy" and for his sentence to be suspended.

"Since my release on May 3rd, I have secured steady employment, my own place, and am attending church," he wrote. "Now, if I have to serve time in jail because of someone else's oversight/error, I stand to lose my job and definitely my home."

At a hearing this morning, Ford will get the chance to make his case before Rushing.

Ford, of 509 Oakhill Court in Brooksville, was sentenced on charges of possession of marijuana, possession of paraphernalia and possession of cocaine.

For the first two counts, he received 46 days in jail. He had already been held for 46 days, so he was released May 3.

But the charge of possession of cocaine came with a longer sentence, and the jail employee overseeing the release failed to spot that charge.

That meant Ford went free when he should have remained locked up.

Jail officials didn't realize the mistake until the day he was supposed to be released, July 11.

Ford said in his letter that he warned the guards he was being released early: "I repeatedly told them that my time wasn't up. They said they were following orders. I was not allowed to stay; I did not have a choice in the matter."

Ford assumed that he was being let out because of overcrowding at the jail, according to his letter.

"I feel some compassion for this guy," said jail warden Don Stewart. "The error was ours. I think it's unfortunate that he's having to turn around and come back."

According to Stewart, Ford contacted the jail when he learned of the mistake and neither one of them knew what to do because Ford's proper release day had come and gone.

That's where the court stepped in.

The jail, which is operated by Corrections Corporation of America, was fined approximately $20,000 for the error.

In January, inmate Aaron Hagen was mistakenly transferred to the Department of Corrections, despite a court order saying that he should be kept locally so that he could testify in a trial.

In December, Daniel Swetokos was released from the jail accidentally and then recaptured a day later by jail guards.

And in May 2005, the jail allowed two women to be extradited to the U.S. Virgin Islands without a hearing or a warrant from the governor.

But this is the first case where so much time has elapsed before the error was discovered.

"I wish the young man luck tomorrow because I think he's got difficult circumstances," Stewart said. "They told him turn himself in, and he did that. I commend him."

Jonathan Abel can be reached at jabel@sptimes.com or 352 754-6114.

[Last modified August 3, 2006, 23:12:10]