Louisiana authorities have launched a manhunt for a convicted killer who was mistakenly freed from a state prison due to a clerical error last week.

Benjuiel Johnson, 32, was serving a 40-year sentence for manslaughter and illegal possession of a firearm and stolen goods at the Dixon Correctional Institute. However, he was set free on Sept. 23, after the Department of Corrections accidentally released him on good behavior for prior charges, without realizing that he was also serving time for manslaughter, WAFB in Baton Rouge reported.

Apparently, a clerical error was to blame since Johnson had a separate outstanding charge for battery of a correctional officer last year. After he was released from the Dixon Correctional Institute and transferred to the East Feliciana Parish detention center, he was processed only for the battery charge. He then posted a $10,000 bond with the help of his mother and was set free.

The blunder was not discovered until five days after Johnson was freed when a tipster called cops after recognizing him on the street.

Pam Laborde, a spokesperson for the Louisiana Department of Corrections, warned that the officials responsible for the error would face disciplinary action.

"We're not trying to make excuses, it's something that shouldn't have happened," Louisiana Department of Corrections spokeswoman Pam Laborde told the station.

"He's a dangerous person, but we're going to get him, we're going to catch him," said Tony Clayton, a special prosecutor who assisted Johnson's conviction, reports Time. "If he's a smart man, which he probably isn't, he should probably turn himself in and if not -- we're going to use every resource available to take him off the streets."

Iberville Parish Sheriff Brett Stassi told The Washington Post that Johnson Johnson "knows he's not supposed to be out. His family knows he's not supposed to be out. Hopefully they can talk him into turning himself in."

However, Johnson's mother argues that "It's not his fault, it's not his fault. He got released," she told WAFB. "You told him he was no longer your property, he bonded out, and now you're hunting him like a dog, like he escaped from prison or something. But no he didn't escape. Y'all let him go. Y'all opened the doors and let him out of there."