A man who was erroneously released from prison nearly 10 years ago -- only to then be taken into custody, released a second time and then captured by ICE – has been released once again, seemingly bringing the saga to an end.
Rene Lima-Marin left the ICE detention facility in Aurora around 2 p.m. Monday following a ruling from the Board of Immigration Appeals.
"It’s hard to put it in words. It’s crazy. You wait for this, you expect this, but you don’t know how to express it," Lima-Marin said to reporters.
The BIA, the highest court for immigration law, had been looking over the case since the start of the year. According to Lima-Marin’s attorney, Aaron Elinoff, the court dismissed it Friday, but the verdict was sent through the mail. Elinoff learned the decision Monday.
"I'm out here now. They’re going to have to catch me if they want to put me back," Lima-Marin said immediately after his release. "But at the same time, still a little leery because we’ve been through this before."
The Department of Security had the option to appeal this to the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals, but hours after the release, spokesperson Carl Rusnok said the decision will be final:
"U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is disappointed that the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) has dismissed our appeal of an immigration judge’s decision to terminate the removal proceedings of Rene Lima Marin, from Cuba. However, ICE will abide by the BIA’s decision; Lima Marin has already been released from ICE custody. ICE currently plans no further action against Lima Marin unless other future criminal convictions render him removable."
Lima-Marin’s suit went in front of the BIA after an immigration judge said he should go free late last year. The DHS had then decided to re-work their case for deportation into a firearms violation.
"The behavior was offensive at best," Elinoff said, standing with his client. "How many times does someone have to win their case before you let it go? It was vindictive. Mean, cruel, and it’s been repeated."
A judge originally intended to sentence Lima-Marin to 98 years in prison for a pair of video store robberies in 1998. He was set free in 2008 because of an error in his sentencing paperwork. He went on to start a family, work a job and join his church. Lima-Marin was re-arrested in 2014 once the mistake was caught, but he was set free by a judge and pardoned by Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper last year.
Immigration authorities took Lima-Marin, who came to the United States from Cuba as a 2-year-old, into custody immediately after his release. ICE officials said then that he had been flagged for deportation in 2000.
"God has a plan. He has a purpose. Everything was meant to be, you know what I mean? And it’s brought me to this point," Lima-Marin said. "I’m extremely remorseful. I’m a different person now. I’m not the same person I was before. I wish I would have never done those things, and I’m sorry that they had to experience that."
TIMELINE: The case of Rene Lima-Marin
Click here if timeline does not appear
Even before ICE's statement, Elinoff was cautiously confident that this could be the end of Lima-Marin's fight.
"The case law's dead on point. The facts were strongly in our favor, and we won. Unless there is a change in the law. I do not see that outcome of this changing.”
Lima-Marin says he will work as minister now that he is free.
"That’s basically what I plan on doing, is ministering God’s word and trying to assist and help others become better people like he’s helped me become."
Michael Clifton, who was involved in the robberies with Lima-Marin, remains in prison. Lima-Marin said he hopes Clifton can also go free, adding that he believes 98 years is too long for robbery charges.
