OLATHE, KAN -
What was supposed to be a two-day jail sentence turned into a nearly month-long ordeal for a metro man, but when he was then handed a bill for the time he served well above and beyond the judges sentence, he decided to take his case to federal court.
A.J. Moreno of Olathe, Kansas, has filed a federal lawsuit against the City of Overland Park, the Johnson County Sheriff's Office and the Johnson County Department of Corrections after he spend 27 days in jail, 25 more than the judge had sentenced him for driving on a suspended license.
"I mean, my God, if a judge orders you to do two days, how do you end up doing 25 more?" asked Moreno, who admitted that he was guilty of driving on a suspended license. But he says that he had no idea that his two-day sentence at the Adult Detention Center in Olathe would leave him in a judicial "Twilight Zone."
"Well, come Monday, I went up the guard and said what time I'm I getting out," said Moreno. "And he explained to me that I wasn't suppose to be out for six months, until April."
At one point, Moreno says that he was farmed out to a jail in Brown County, near the Nebraska border.
"I missed Thanksgiving," said Moreno. "Considering that I'd been there 27 days, I didn't know if I was ever going to get out."
Moreno, who says that misplaced paperwork was the likely culprit of the mistake, says that nobody believed him when he kept telling guards that he was supposed to be released to house arrest. Finally, Moreno says that he had to write the judge personally.
"Finally I took it upon myself," said Moreno. "I'm glad I did."
FOX 4 contacted all of the agencies named in Moreno's lawsuit, but they declined to comment citing the pending litigation.
Moreno says that by the time the judge intervened, after 27 days, he had lost his job and had missed child custody hearings for his kids.
"They were willing to work with me because I was only going to be gone two days," said Moreno. "After five days, they said okay that's fine. After ten days they said we can't hold your job no more."
But Moreno says that he would have never filed the federal lawsuit except that he says the City of Overland Park tried to bill him $3,500 for his extended jail stay.
He says that was one insult too many.
"Not only have you punished me by accident, but then you're going to charge me for it?" asked Moreno.
A.J. Moreno of Olathe, Kansas, has filed a federal lawsuit against the City of Overland Park, the Johnson County Sheriff's Office and the Johnson County Department of Corrections after he spend 27 days in jail, 25 more than the judge had sentenced him for driving on a suspended license.
"I mean, my God, if a judge orders you to do two days, how do you end up doing 25 more?" asked Moreno, who admitted that he was guilty of driving on a suspended license. But he says that he had no idea that his two-day sentence at the Adult Detention Center in Olathe would leave him in a judicial "Twilight Zone."
"Well, come Monday, I went up the guard and said what time I'm I getting out," said Moreno. "And he explained to me that I wasn't suppose to be out for six months, until April."
At one point, Moreno says that he was farmed out to a jail in Brown County, near the Nebraska border.
"I missed Thanksgiving," said Moreno. "Considering that I'd been there 27 days, I didn't know if I was ever going to get out."
Moreno, who says that misplaced paperwork was the likely culprit of the mistake, says that nobody believed him when he kept telling guards that he was supposed to be released to house arrest. Finally, Moreno says that he had to write the judge personally.
"Finally I took it upon myself," said Moreno. "I'm glad I did."
FOX 4 contacted all of the agencies named in Moreno's lawsuit, but they declined to comment citing the pending litigation.
Moreno says that by the time the judge intervened, after 27 days, he had lost his job and had missed child custody hearings for his kids.
"They were willing to work with me because I was only going to be gone two days," said Moreno. "After five days, they said okay that's fine. After ten days they said we can't hold your job no more."
But Moreno says that he would have never filed the federal lawsuit except that he says the City of Overland Park tried to bill him $3,500 for his extended jail stay.
He says that was one insult too many.
"Not only have you punished me by accident, but then you're going to charge me for it?" asked Moreno.
