No criminal charges will be filed against Department of Corrections employees involved in a scandal over miscalculation of prison sentences.
Attorney General Jon Bruning released Monday afternoon the results of an investigation in to the miscalculation of sentences. More than 200 inmates, some with violent backgrounds, were released early because sentences were miscalculated under Nebraska’s good-time law.
Bruning says the decision is based on reports and testimony, and prosecutors can’t prove criminal intent.
"We certainly had, I think, a broad command of the facts. And what the facts showed me is this was incompetence, ineptitude, negligence, but not criminal intent."
Prosecutors reviewed statutes relating to official misconduct and obstruction of government operations. Had charges been filed, those involved could have faced a year in prison if convicted. Bruning says the sentencing miscalculations were the result of a small group of people who didn’t do their jobs.
One of the inmates released early was Nikko Jenkins, who killed four people in Omaha shortly after his release. Jenkins pleaded no contest and is awaiting a death penalty sentencing hearing.