Prosecutors have dropped criminal charges against a man who gained national attention in the US last year when it emerged he had avoided prison for 13 years due to a clerical error.

Cornealious Anderson was arrested for purse-snatching in St Louis in November, but prosecutor Jennifer Joyce said an investigation by her office had cast doubt on the case and she had dropped charges of second-degree robbery.

Anderson was convicted in 2000 for an armed robbery in St Charles County and sentenced to 13 years in prison.

Because of a clerical error, he was never told when or where to report to serve his time, so he went about his life, starting his own business and coaching youth football.

Prison officials found the mistake in July 2013, and he was imprisoned for 10 months before a judge set him free in May last year.

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.