Colorado Man In Prison Since His Teens Resentenced
Sam Mendez was a 14-year-old who committed murder and received a life sentence without parole.
Now at age 41, he has been resentenced to an additional 30 years in prison.
At the age of 14, Sam was involved in a robbery that led to a woman's death in her Greeley home in 1992. In 1994 he was tried as an adult and given one of only two sentences he could have received. Either the death penalty or life without parole are the sentences given for the crime.
Prison officials placed Mendez in lockdown in 1998 and for the better part of 17 years, he stayed there. As a result, he developed issues that resulted in more solitary confinement, which, his attorney says, caused more issues and his request for psychiatric care were ignored.
The ACLU made a video about his incarceration, and in 2012, Sam was moved to a residential treatment program but was still not allowed any type of freedom and was kept segregated 23 hours a day.
His resentencing to 30 years means since he has already served over 20 years, that he could be released in the next few years.