One week after Fremont County court officials apologized for a clerical error that allowed Evan Ebel to walk out of prison four years early, court officials said Tuesday they have discovered two additional cases with sentencing errors.
The errors were uncovered during a review of five years’ worth of assault cases, and the two additional cases “were identified as requiring minor sentencing adjustments.”
Neither mistake resulted in any inmates being improperly released, said Alison Morgan, spokeswoman for the Department of Corrections.
“Those offenders are still incarcerated, and the adjustments did not change their sentence lengths,” she said.
The sentencing adjustments have been completed, “so the most accurate and updated information has been provided to the Department of Corrections,” according to a statement released by Walter Blair, administrator for the 11th Judicial District, which includes Fremont County.
“We believe these are isolated instances and there is not a systemic problem in data entry of sentencing,” the statement said.
Fremont County is home to the state prison where Ebel was an inmate until he was released in January.
Authorities believe Ebel, 28, killed pizza-delivery driver Nathan Leon on March 17 and shot Department of Corrections chief Tom Clements on March 19. Ebel was killed in a shootout with Texas law enforcement officers two days later.
Ebel, who was serving time for robbery, assaulted a prison guard and was sentenced to four years in addition to his robbery sentence. But the sentencing order sent to the Department of Corrections didn’t include the word “consecutive,” which would have indicated the four years were to be served after Ebel completed his robbery sentence. Ebel was let out before serving the additional four years.
As a result of the error, Gov. John Hickenlooper last week ordered a statewide audit of thousands of records to ensure prisoners are serving appropriate sentences.
“The department will prioritize the review of cases with the greatest level of risk, going back 10 years and reviewing required consecutive sentencing,” Hickenlooper said in a news release announcing the audit.
“The department will work with the Attorney General’s office on any issues that may need further action.”
Officials in the 11th Judicial District undertook their own review separate from those broader audits, which are ongoing, Morgan said.
In addition to the audit, the National Institute of Corrections, an arm of the U.S. Department of Justice, will review state parole procedures.
That review is still in the planning stages, Morgan said.
Karen Augé: 303-954-1733, kauge@denverpost.com or twitter.com/karenauge