MADISON, Wis. (AP) - The state Supreme Court says an inmate doesn’t deserve sentence credit while he was free after prison officials mistakenly released him.
A Jefferson County judge sentenced Zachary Friedlander in April 2016 to probation and eight months in jail for bail jumping. Friedlander was ordered to serve the jail time concurrent with a prison sentence he was serving on a heroin charge.
He finished his prison sentence in September 2016. Rather than taking him to jail to finish his last 75 days for bail jumping, Oshkosh Correctional Institution officials released him.
An appellate court ruled he should receive sentence credit for the 65 days he was free. The Supreme Court reversed that decision Tuesday, ruling Friedlander isn’t entitled to credit because he couldn’t have been convicted of escaping.
Friedlander’s attorney, Jeremy Newman, said he was disappointed but declined further comment.
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