A Missouri man convicted of robbery in 2000 wasn't sent to prison until a clerical error was discovered in 2013, on the day his sentence would have ended. On Monday, a judge ordered him set free.

Over the past 13 years, Cornealious "Mike" Anderson waited for the order that would send him to prison, even asking about it, but it never came. He got married, started a construction business, and became a youth football coach and church volunteer.

"Day by day, month by month, year by year, time passed, and they never picked me up," he told the Associated Press.

The state finally noticed the mistake last year. On the day his sentence would have ended, Anderson was picked up by marshals and sent to prison.

Although he had been convicted at age 23 of robbing the assistant manager of a fast food restaurant, Anderson's behavior over the past decade convinced Judge Terry Lynn Brown that Anderson was "a good man and a changed man."

Anderson is now completely free to return to his wife and 3-year-old daughter. Instead of putting him on parole, the judge gave him credit for the years between the conviction and his arrest late last year.

The robbery was Anderson's only serious crime.

[Photo Credit: AP Images]