Elderly Springfield inmate set for release remains in prison

SPRINGFIELD, Missouri (KY3) – A Greene County jury found 81-year-old Howard Roberts guilty of financial crimes in 2018.

That verdict was overturned, but Roberts remains in a prison cell.

Roberts was scheduled to be released from prison on Thursday, but the Missouri Attorney General's Office has filed suit to keep him in prison. According to Roberts' attorney, Jonathan Sternberg, this is not the only case catching the Attorney General's attention.

“I think it is without question cruel to Mr. Roberts,” Sternberg said.

Roberts was found guilty by a Greene County jury of convincing a woman to invest in a company that didn't exist. He was sentenced to 20 years in prison. Sternberg says his lawyer was ineffective and failed to provide crucial evidence that could have proved his innocence.

“Judge Jones agreed and said the attorney should have done that. However, the attorney failed to do that. Therefore, he did not receive a fair trial. Therefore, he is getting a new trial. The Attorney General has appealed that decision and is trying to reverse the grant of a new trial to Mr. Roberts,” Sternberg said.

According to court documents, Judge David Jones found the Department of Corrections in contempt for failing to release Roberts.

“The order that Judge Jones issued for his release does not mean that he gets off scot-free and can just go wherever he wants. It is as if he is free on bail again pending a new trial,” he said.

On Monday, Sternberg said Judge Jones inadvertently signed an order lifting that contempt of court order. He said that case is not the only one that has caught Bailey's attention.

“I think it's politics,” he said. “That's the bottom line. He's done that in three other cases and he lost the others. One was in Boone County last December. One was the Hemmy case out of Livingston County, out of Chillicothe. The other was the Dunn case out of St. Louis, just last week. This is the fourth time since last December that he has opposed the release of a prison inmate who a judge had ordered to be released.”

Sternberg says he is fighting for Roberts' rights.

“Everyone makes mistakes. Lawyers make mistakes too. The system should be geared towards helping people who are genuine victims of the system's failures, not towards promoting that injustice,” he explained.

The Attorney General's Office declined to comment because the case was ongoing.

We also contacted the judge in this case but received no response.

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