MEMPHIS, Tenn. — One family says power problems at the Fayette County jail put them through an emotional roller-coaster.
They say the issue caused a loved one to be locked up longer than needed.
Anthony Oszaniec is thankful to be a free man.
“It’s amazing. I’m back with my family. I got out Friday,” he said.
For weeks, the Fayette County jail worked to fix power outages.
It was an outage that shut the jail down and moved 125 inmates to different county jails.
Oszaniec was one of those inmates.
He thought he had already done his time spending nearly two and half years behind bars for violation of probation due to possession with intent to sell.
But he says it’s the extra weeks he served that are questionable.
“I’ve been gone for almost three years. I’m like, lets do it because I want to go home,” he said.
Oszaniec says he knew his release date and was ready to starts a new chapter.
But as his mother patiently waited outside of the jail for her son’s release, he never showed up.
“Not knowing where your son is, is a terrible thing,” she said.
While Oszaniec knew he was being transported elsewhere because of the power outages, the jail said he still had more time to serve because of an outstanding warrant.
He wasn’t able to tell his family about his additional time behind bars.
Oszaniec says it caused stress on his family, especially because they didn’t know where he was.
“I had to put them through more, because it wasn’t just me doing the sentence. It’s the family too,” he said.
He says other inmates faced the same dilemma, having to spend extra time behind bars.