A Tennessee man who has served 25 years of a 162-year prison term for theft and forgery convictions will be released from prison after a judge and a district attorney found the sentence excessive. Courtney Anderson was sentenced in 2000 to the long prison term after Anderson was found to be a repeat offender. The judge gave Anderson the maximum amount of time on each conviction and required the sentences to be served one after the other. Appeals were denied. But in April, Anderson filed a motion in criminal court to correct what he referred to as “an illegal sentence.” A judge cut Anderson’s total sentence to 15 years this week. The now 54 year old Anderson, told the judge that he committed the crimes because of a past cocaine addiction. He now plans to live in Virginia with his sister.