FILE – Colorado Gov. Jared Polis speaks during an election event on Nov. 8, 2022, in Denver. Gov. Polis has granted clemency to 24 people, including the co-defendant of a Cuban immigrant who was pardoned in 2017 to prevent him from being deported. In one of a series of executive orders Thursday, Dec. 22, 2022, Polis ordered Michael Clifton, who was convicted of committing an armed robbery with Rene Lima-Marin in 1998, be released on parole at the end of January. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski, File) 
Rene Lima-Marin talks to his mother on the phone Monday, March 26, 2018, shortly after being released from an immigration detention facility in Aurora, Colo. Lima-Marin walked out of an immigration detention center in suburban Denver on Monday after winning his deportation case. Lima-Marin was convicted of armed robbery in 2000 and sentenced to 98 years in prison but mistakenly paroled in 2008 in prison. After his release, Lima-Marin married, started a family and a got a job but was returned to prison after authorities discovered their mistake six years later. (AP Photo/Thomas Peipert) 
Rene Lima-Marin and his wife, Jasmine, listen to reporters’ questions Monday, March 26, 2018, shortly after Rene Lima-Marin was released from an immigration detention facility in Aurora, Colo. Lima-Marin walked out of an immigration detention center in suburban Denver on Monday after winning his deportation case. Lima-Marin was convicted of armed robbery in 2000 and sentenced to 98 years in prison but mistakenly paroled in 2008 in prison. After his release, Lima-Marin married, started a family and a got a job but was returned to prison after authorities discovered their mistake six years later. (AP Photo/Thomas Peipert) 
Rene Lima-Marin speaks with reporters after he was released from an immigration detention facility in Aurora, Colo. Monday, March 26, 2018. Lima-Marin walked out of an immigration detention center in suburban Denver on Monday after winning his deportation case. Lima-Marin was convicted of armed robbery in 2000 and sentenced to 98 years in prison but mistakenly paroled in 2008 in prison. After his release, Lima-Marin married, started a family and a got a job but was returned to prison after authorities discovered their mistake six years later. (AP Photo/Thomas Peipert) 
Rene Lima-Marin, right, is congratulated by his father, Eli Borges, after being released from an immigration detention facility in Aurora, Colo., Monday, March 26, 2018. Lima-Marin walked out of an immigration detention center in suburban Denver on Monday after winning his deportation case. Lima-Marin was convicted of armed robbery in 2000 and sentenced to 98 years in prison but mistakenly paroled in 2008 in prison. After his release, Lima-Marin married, started a family and a got a job but was returned to prison after authorities discovered their mistake six years later. (AP Photo/Thomas Peipert) 
Rene Lima-Marin speaks with reporters outside of the immigration detention facility in Aurora, Colo., as his father, niece and nephew look on from the side Monday, March 26, 2018. Lima-Marin walked out of an immigration detention center in suburban Denver on Monday after winning his deportation case. Lima-Marin was convicted of armed robbery in 2000 and sentenced to 98 years in prison but mistakenly paroled in 2008 in prison. After his release, Lima-Marin married, started a family and a got a job but was returned to prison after authorities discovered their mistake six years later. (AP Photo/Thomas Peipert) 
FILE – In this May 7, 2014 file photo, Rene Lima-Marin sits for an interview with The Associated Press about the circumstances of his sentencing and incarceration, in a meeting room inside Kit Carson Correctional Center, a privately operated prison in Burlington, Colo. Lima-Marin, who was pardoned by Colorado’s governor after he was ordered released from prison only to be arrested by immigration authorities is free again Monday, March 26, 2018. (AP Photo/Brennan Linsley, File) 
Jasmine Lima-Marin, center, stands next to supporters and her attorney, Hans Meyer, right, during a news conference on May 19, 2017, in Denver. Lima-Marin’s husband, who came to the United States from Cuba as a baby during the Mariel boat lift in 1980, faces deportation. She says she’s hopeful that he won’t be deported but adds that she and the couple’s two children would follow him there if he’s deported. (AP Photo/ P. Solomon Banda) 
Jasmine Lima-Marin stands at a podium as she addresses the media during a news conference on Friday, May 19, 2017, in Denver. Lima-Marin’s husband, who came to the United States from Cuba as a baby during the Mariel boat lift in 1980, faces deportation. She says she’s hopeful that he won’t be deported but adds that she and the couple’s two children would follow him there if he is. (AP Photo/ P. Solomon Banda) 
Jasmine Lima-Marin, center, stands next to supporters and her attorney, Hans Meyer, right, during a news conference on May 19, 2017, in Denver. Lima-Marin’s husband, who came to the United States from Cuba as a baby during the Mariel boat lift in 1980, faces deportation. She says she’s hopeful that he won’t be deported but adds that she and the couple’s two children would follow him there if he’s deported. (AP Photo/ P. Solomon Banda) 
Jasmine Lima-Marin stands at a podium as she addresses the media during a news conference on Friday, May 19, 2017, in Denver. Lima-Marin’s husband, who came to the United States from Cuba as a baby during the Mariel boat lift in 1980, faces deportation. She says she’s hopeful that he won’t be deported but adds that she and the couple’s two children would follow him there if he is. (AP Photo/ P. Solomon Banda) 
Jasmine Lima-Marin, center, stands next to supporters and her attorney, Hans Meyer, right, during a news conference on May 19, 2017, in Denver. Lima-Marin’s husband, who came to the United States from Cuba as a baby during the Mariel boat lift in 1980, faces deportation. She says she’s hopeful that he won’t be deported but adds that she and the couple’s two children would follow him there if he’s deported. (AP Photo/ P. Solomon Banda) 
FILE – In this May 7, 2014 file photo, Rene Lima-Marin sits for an interview with The Associated Press about the circumstances of his sentencing and incarceration, in a meeting room inside Kit Carson Correctional Center, a privately operated prison in Burlington, Colo. Lima-Marin was sent back to prison after being mistakenly released 90 years early. Colorado’s House of Representatives unanimously endorsed a resolution on Friday, April 21, 2017 urging the governor to grant him clemency. (AP Photo/Brennan Linsley, File) 
FILE – In this Sept. 16, 2014, file photo, Jasmine Lima-Marin speaks during a gathering of faith leaders and supporters at a vigil in front of the Governor’s Mansion in Denver. Lima-Marin’s husband, Rene, is asking a judge on Wednesday, Dec. 21, 2016, to be released from prison after creating a new life in the several years he was free by a clerical error that allowed him to be paroled in 2008. (AP Photo/Brennan Linsley, File) 
FILE – In this May 7, 2014, file photo, Rene Lima-Marin sits for an interview with The Associated Press about the circumstances of his sentencing and incarceration in a meeting room inside Kit Carson Correctional Center, a privately operated prison in Burlington, Colo. Lima-Marin, who was sent back to prison after being mistakenly released 90 years early, says it was cruel and unusual punishment to put him back behind bars after he reformed his life. A judge is considering on Wednesday, Dec. 21, whether to free Lima-Marin who is arguing that it would be unfair to keep him behind bars after he started a family and held a steady job after his accidental release in 2008. (AP Photo/Brennan Linsley, File)
DENVER | Colorado Gov. Jared Polis has granted clemency to 24 people, including the co-defendant of a Cuban immigrant from Aurora who was pardoned in 2017 to prevent him from being deported as well as a state trooper hailed for stopping a gunman who entered the office of a previous governor over a decade ago but was accused of pointing a gun at a driver last year.
In one of a series of executive orders Thursday, Polis ordered Michael Clifton, who was convicted of committing an armed robbery with Rene Lima-Marin in 1998, be released on parole at the end of January.
Lima-Marin was mistakenly released from prison early and married and started a family before being sent back to prison nearly six years later in 2018. A judge later ordered Lima-Marin to be released again. But he was picked up by immigration authorities on a deportation order based on his conviction before he could return home, prompting then Gov. John Hickenlooper to pardon Lima-Marin.
In a letter to Clifton, Polis, a Democrat, said that Lima-Marin’s pardon was among the reasons he decided to issue a limited commutation of his 98-year sentence, as well as because his punishment was well beyond the typical range for such a crime and the work he has done in prison to help other offenders recognize the effect of their crimes on victims.
“You have taken accountability for your actions and recognize the mistakes you made in the past. You are remorseful and ready to advance to a new phase of life. I believe you will be successful upon your release,” Polis said.
Jason Kasperek, the assistant manager of one of two video stores robbed by Clifton and Lima-Marin, said Friday that he visited Clifton in prison with the help of a restorative justice councilor about six months ago after Polis’s office informed him they were considering clemency.
Five years after Kasperek opposed Lima-Marin’s pardon, he said he was impressed by Clifton and questioned his part in his conviction. At the time, Kasperek remembers being told to focus on what Clifton did, which instilled “anger and hate” and made him “base (Clifton’s) entire existence off those few minutes of what he did in that store.”
“I never had a chance to sit there and think. They never told me that he had children. They just said remember what he did,” said Kasperek, a photographer who ended up joining Clifton’s mother in campaigning for clemency for him. “He made a sporadic decision and robbed a store. I made a sporadic decision and put him in prison.”
When he got the call Thursday night from the governor’s office about Polis’ decision, said Kasperek, “I just came undone.”
Polis also issued a pardon to and commuted the one-year probationary sentence of Jay Hemphill, who pled guilty to misdemeanor menacing this year. He was arrested after allegedly yelling and pointing a gun at a driver as he was crossing the street near the state Capitol in 2021.
Polis noted that Hemphill was a member of the state patrol unit that provided security at the Capitol and five governors and had protected Gov. Bill Ritter from a gunman who walked into the governor’s office in 2007.
“You made a mistake in a brief instant when you thought you were under threat, and no one was physically harmed. You properly reported the incident to your chain of command within the Colorado State Patrol. This mistake should not define your career or detract from your act of heroism in protecting Governor Bill Ritter from a gunman,” Polis wrote.
In 2007, Hemphill shot and killed Aaron Snyder after he walked into the reception area of the office dressed in a tuxedo and declared that he was the emperor of the state and there to take over.
Hemphill talked to him and got him to step out of the office but shot him after Snyder drew back his jacket to show a large gun in his pocket, according to a summary of the shooting investigation.
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Bedayn is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.