A 31-year-old math teacher at Parkrose High School who became hooked on heroin and ended up robbing a Plaid Pantry convenience store of about $50 at gunpoint was sentenced Monday to probation.
Oregon's sentencing guidelines called for a mandatory minimum prison sentence of nearly six years for the former teacher turned robber, Ian William Mandis. But an exception under Oregon's Measure 11 law allowed Multnomah County Circuit Judge John Wittmayer to sentence Mandis to probation because the robbery victim -- the Plaid Pantry clerk -- wasn't physically hurt and Mandis didn't have a criminal history.
Deputy District Attorney Elizabeth Waner told the judge that Mandis' robbery of the Southeast Portland store appeared to be "truly out of character" for him. Waner said her office agreed to probation instead of prison because Mandis has embraced drug treatment and plans to continue his therapy with mental-health counseling.
Mandis was teaching at Parkrose at the time but had been placed on a one-year contract because he was struggling to stay awake at school, according to a Close Street Supervision deputy who reviewed Mandis' case. District officials thought Mandis was sleepy because of medications he was taking, the deputy's report said. But the report says his fiancee ended their relationship after discovering his drug problem and giving him a chance to get clean.
Court records say Mandis graduated from the University of Portland with a master's degree in teaching in 2011. In addition to Parkrose, Mandis taught at Fernwood Middle School, Benson Polytechnic High School and Madison High School, court records say.
He comes from a family involved in education: His mother is a teacher, and his father is a retired teacher.
On May 29, 2016, Mandis was caught on surveillance video walking into the Plaid Pantry store at 2730 N.E. Glisan St., placing what turned out to be a BB gun on the counter and demanding what the clerk said was all of the money in the register, according to a probable-cause affidavit.
Because the clerk recognized Mandis as a regular customer, he asked if it was a joke. Mandis repeated his demand, the clerk handed over the money, and Mandis apologized as he left, the affidavit states.
The BB gun looked like a more powerful and threatening firearm, authorities said.
Police searched the area around the store. They found Mandis walking about four blocks away -- in the same clothes as during the robbery, according to the affidavit. Mandis lived seven blocks from the store.
Upon his arrest, Mandis admitted he robbed the store and wrote an apology to the clerk, which read in part: "words cannot describe how sorry I am for making you feel scared for your life and to scare you in such an awful, unforgiveable way. ... It was not a real gun but that doesn't matter because I hurt you and scared you deeply."
At Monday's hearing, Mandis apologized, saying he wants to change his life for the better. His attorney, Alicia Hercher, said her client said he never used drugs around children or while at school. His case is a classic example of the tragic effects of becoming hooked on prescription painkillers, she said.
"Mr. Mandis was a school teacher, he was injured, developed an addiction to pain medication and then began using heroin," Hercher said. "That's it in a nutshell."
Hercher added that the District Attorney's Office "has been very understanding of the addiction element of his crime, and we're very appreciative of that."
Although the Oregon Teachers Standards and Practices Commission still lists Mandis' teaching license as active, the conviction will likely be the end of that career. A spokeswoman for the commission didn't return a call seeking comment.
-- Aimee Green
503-294-5119
