Lost in federal prison – and held 13 months too long

Jermaine Hickman was in plain sight every day for six years, yet he somehow became a lost soul in the federal prison system.

That is, until one day in November 2013, when a guard at the Federal Medical Center in Rochester, walked up and casually said: "Jermaine, you're going home."

"Don't be playing with me," said Hickman, who thought he had another six months. The guard wasn't, and a few hours later Hickman walked free.

In what appears to be one of the most egregious cases of illegal incarceration in recent federal history, the Rochester prison held Hickman for 13 months beyond his mandatory release date —and then abruptly released him when the mistake came to light. Today Hickman is suing the federal Bureau of Prisons in federal court.

"I'm still in 'freedom shock,' " Hickman, 33, said in an interview last week.

"That's lost time I'll never get back, lost time with my kids and family, lost time that they never get back, as well."

A prisons spokesman called the incident "a very rare occurrence" but declined to comment specifically on Hickman's case.

"We don't compile numbers of how often this has happened," said spokesman Ed Ross.

Hickman, who was convicted in 2007 of bank robbery, had a calculated release date of Oct. 11, 2012. He didn't actually walk free until Nov. 21, 2013, according to prison records obtained by the Star Tribune.

"The sentence computation was computed incorrectly," Bureau of Prisons release records state. No single person is cited for the error. Instead his bureau records say: "Clarification should have been requested by the Classification and Computation Technician or the Auditor."

Still, the government appears to be blaming Hickman.

In responses filed recently by an assistant U.S. attorney in Minneapolis, the government implies that it was Hickman's responsibility to inform the bureau when he should have been released.

Hickman "did not raise any issues concerning his sentence computation or continued incarceration via the formal grievance process with the BOP," the government said.

Hickman's attorney, Steve Meshbesher of Minneapolis, said he's astonished that the bureau is trying to put the blame on Hickman.

"How do you put a price tag on … lost freedom, let alone blame him?" Meshbesher said. "How do you 'lose' somebody for over a year? This is America, not Russia."

Under federal law, Hickman is entitled to up to $500,000 in damages if the bureau is found liable for wrongful imprisonment.

Hickman, who now lives in Omaha and works as a tree-cutter, still expresses shock over the episode.

"At first it was surreal, almost as if it was a game, and I just thought that this really cannot be happening. It's beyond frustrating."

But he clearly recalls that on the day he walked from the Rochester prison, the staff gave him no time for transition and readjustment.

"The counselor said, 'We have to get you out of here. You're on a flight to Omaha tonight,' " he said. "It was immediate action, man. By 4:15 p.m., I was free, being driven away to the airport in Rochester."

Prison officials gave him a debit card for about $150, Hickman said, and some clothes. "By 6 p.m. I was at the airport and flying up to Minneapolis on my own."

Hickman says he arrived in Omaha after midnight and was met by his brother.

"We went downtown and just talked. He said, 'It's good to see you free.'

"To this day, I still haven't gotten an answer on how this happened."

Paul McEnroe • 612-673-1745