An Indiana felon sentenced to 20 years of prison was mistakenly released from a county jail earlier this week, the Indy Star reports.
Levi Garrett, 32, was in custody in Marion County (Ind.) Jail after being convicted of auto theft, resisting law enforcement and carrying a handgun. While awaiting his transfer to an Indiana state prison to serve 12 years of his 20-year sentence, Garrett was released for unknown reasons.
Court records show that Garrett had previously been arrested in May 2015 for over a dozen charges related to methamphetamine including selling to a child.
“There were glitches in the IT system that caused a breakdown in communications. It’s under investigation. We’re going to look into that and try to figure out what happened,” Colonel Louis Dezelan of the Marion County Sheriff’s Office told ABC’s Indiana affiliate.
This isn’t the first time that Marion County Jail has mistakenly released inmates due to computer problems.
The Indy Star reports that In June of 2014, four inmates were accidentally released over several weeks primarily due computer software, but admitted to the possibility of human error. Another inmate was released in August of the same year de to an accidental order logged into the inmate’s file.
In September of 2015, another systemic error allowed for an inmate to spend 12 hours outside of her cell. The following month, the Marion County sheriff demoted the jail commander and disciplined 18 deputies.
The Sheriff’s department issued a warrant for Garrett’s arrest on Tuesday and are still investigating the circumstances of the accidental release.
“Our warrant teams are on the street and we’re very confident they’re going to reel him in quickly,” said Dezelan.
If you have info on the whereabouts of Levi Garrett, please contact the MCSO Criminal Division at 317-327-1411. pic.twitter.com/62j8ZYBuXb
— Marion Co Sheriff IN (@MCSO_IN) March 16, 2016