The headline was correct, even though many Republic readers questioned it after it was posted on the newspaper’s website.
Bartholomew Circuit Court Judge Kelly Benjamin gave 21-year-old Columbus defendant Marc Mathis a suspended nine-year-sentence for armed robbery after he pleaded guilty to the Class C felony, then ordered him to a work release facility and then a “sober-living” facility as part of a plea bargain agreement.
In Indiana, pleading guilty to a Level 3 felony is supposed to result in a prison sentence of three to 16 years, with an advisory sentence of nine years. A fine of $10,000 may be imposed.
Yet this defendant, who pleaded guilty to the original charge as a Level 3 felony, got work release…. for armed robbery.
Mathis admitted to committing the armed robbery on Aug. 19, 2024 at the Circle K at 3470 W. County Road 450S.
Testimony during the hearing and in court documents said Mathis entered the Circle K just after 3:50 a.m. that day wearing a mask, displaying what appeared to be a black firearm. He tapped to get the clerk’s attention and asked for the money in the register.
The victim stated in testimony that Mathis apologized for what he was doing during the robbery, to which the clerk told him that he “didn’t have to do this.”
Mathis ultimately got $150, which he said was to buy drugs, according to court records. Mathis told the court he had been suffering from withdrawal and decided to drink alcohol and use meth as a means to cope that night, before making the decision to rob the gas station, court documents state. Mathis stated he chose the time and location because he thought there wouldn’t be any patrons, and because he was aware that the clerk wouldn’t be allowed a firearm, per Circle K policy.
The clerk testified she lost her job after the robbery, and she and her family lost their home. She and her family also described emotional issues following the incident, causing them to avoid going into stores. Panic attacks and the need for anxiety medication were mentioned.
However, the victim, apparently feeling sorry for Mathis, asked Benjamin to give Mathis a year in prison, and then allow him to go on work release, because she had relatives who had struggled with addiction.
But Mathis didn’t even get the year in jail that the victim requested in her impact statement.
Before the judge, Mathis testified at his sentencing that he would take it all back if he could, he never meant to hurt anyone and that it was an Airsoft gun (not a gun that shoots real bullets).
Mathis was released on bond in late January and had completed inpatient treatment and an intensive outpatient program (IOP) at a recovery center in Bloomington. After relapsing just under three months ago, Mathis said he asked to reapply to the inpatient program, and eventually began treatment at Treatment and Support Center (TASC) in Columbus.
While Benjamin told Mathis during the sentencing it was time for him to take responsibility for his actions, giving this armed robber “work-release” is not in any way holding Mathis accountable for the crime he committed.
And although Mathis was ordered to the Bartholomew County Jail until an opening occurs for work-release, it’s our opinion he should have been ordered to serve the full nine-year sentence, and then go to work release.
To allow Mathis to play the “addiction card” to get away with armed robbery is unacceptable. This defendant threatened a victim with a gun (whether it was real or not) to get money to buy drugs.
Mathis is a danger to this community and should have been treated as such at his sentencing. If he wants substance abuse treatment, which he had already received twice, he should get it after detoxing within the Indiana Department of Corrections. This sentence isn’t “saving” anyone, least of all Mathis — it’s enabling him to beat the system and making our community less safe at the same time.
