(Amanda Loman/Salem Reporter)
A Polk County judge Thursday sentenced a Dallas man to seven and a half years in state prison after a jury found him guilty of robbing a west Salem Plaid Pantry in December, the Polk County District Attorney’s Office announced Friday.
A jury on March 9 found Dominick Andrayus Howland, 22 of Tangent, guilty of first-degree robbery, criminal conspiracy, coercion and unlawful use of a weapon in Polk County Circuit Court, court records showed.
Howland was acquitted on charges of second-degree kidnapping and second-degree theft.
He received the maximum sentence allowed under Oregon’s Ballot Measure 11 sentencing law, according to the statement. The 1994 ballot measure sets mandatory minimum sentences for several serious crimes that cannot be reduced, and prisoners cannot be paroled before finishing their minimum sentence.
Judge Monte Campbell also sentenced Howland to serve three years of post-prison supervision, according to the statement.
Around 4:20 a.m. Dec. 21, the Salem Police Department received a report from an employee at the Plaid Pantry at 2591 Wallace Road N.W. that two men had robbed the store, according to a probable cause affidavit.
Two employees told police that men pointed a gun at one of them and stole money and lottery tickets.
An employee’s inventory check found the robbers had stolen $85 in cash and $800 in lottery tickets, according to the affidavit. They also took an employee’s backpack containing their identification, credit and debit cards and $11 in cash.
Salem police on Dec. 29 arrested Howland and another man, 21-year-old Aspen Michael Hale, in connection with the incident.
A Polk County Jury indicted Hale Feb. 10 on charges of first-degree robbery, criminal conspiracy, unlawful use of a weapon and second-degree theft. A pre-trial conference in his case is scheduled for March 23, court records showed.
Howland was also indicted Feb. 10 on a charge of unauthorized use of a motor vehicle in Polk County Circuit Court. The charge alleges he took or drove a Honda Civic on Dec. 26 without the owner’s permission, according to court records. A trial in that case is scheduled for June 17.
-Ardeshir Tabrizian
