ST LOUIS: A US man who avoided prison because of a clerical error and led a law-abiding life for 13 years says he is overwhelmed by the support he’s received since the story of his eventual incarceration became public.

Meanwhile, the Missouri attorney general signalled that he would look for a way to take Cornealious “Mike” Anderson’s many years of clean living into account in attempting to resolve the “difficult situation”.

Anderson was convicted in 2000 of armed robbery for holding up a restaurant manager in St Louis, Missouri. But he was never formally ordered to report for his 13-year sentence. So he never went and instead got married, learned a trade and raised several children.When prison authorities realised their mistake last July, they took him into custody.

Anderson said he’s been cheered by inmates and guards at the Southeast Correctional Centre in Charleston, Missouri, after his story appeared this week in news accounts.

“It’s a little overwhelming and embarrassing to me, but I can’t thank people enough,” Anderson said in a telephone interview. “Everybody here has been positive, the prisoners and the correctional officers. I’ve had other prisoners tell me it gives them hope.”

When the orders to report to prison never came, Anderson suspected that his case had been overlooked and asked his former attorney what to do. “He said it’s a mistake, and they’re going to figure it out — be prepared to be taken into custody,” Anderson recalled. “Day by day, month by month, year by year, time passed, and they never picked me up.”

So Anderson went about his life, never trying to conceal his whereabouts or identity. He married, divorced, married again.

He raised three children of his own and a stepchild, owned and operated three construction businesses. He coached his son’s youth football team in Webster Groves, Missouri, outside St Louis, and ran the video operation at his church.