By Sheila McLaughlin
The Cincinnati Enquirer

LEBANON - A 37-year-old mother of two who concocted a bizarre robbery scheme to recoup the $900 rent check that she mistakenly threw out was sent to prison Monday for three years.

Pandora Zan, described by her attorney as having emotional problems, sobbed as she placed her hands behind her back for a sheriff's deputy to handcuff her while relatives hugged each other in the courtroom and wept.

While authorities in Montgomery County placed Mrs. Zan on house arrest for holding up a Dollar General store in Miamisburg on Sept. 4, a Warren county judge said probation would demean the seriousness of her crimes.

The Miamisburg woman pleaded guilty last month to aggravated robbery for pointing a handgun at clerks at Yesterday's Clothes consignment shop in Middletown earlier that day and robbing the store of $25.Judge Neal Bronson of Warren County Common Pleas Court said he felt the robberies were an "aberration" in Mrs. Zan's behavior.

She had never been in trouble before, but the judge said he was concerned about her use of a gun.

"You walked into a (store) and brandished a gun to someone who was just doing their work that day," Judge Bronson said.

Mrs. Zan's attorney, Tony Lehman, had argued against prison, saying that detectives in both counties agreed with him. Assistant Prosecutor Leslie Meyer said Judge Bronson told lawyers he would consider releasing Mrs. Zan from prison after she serves six months.

The offbeat nature of the crime led Miamisburg Detective Kirk Bell to think Mrs. Zan didn't intend to harm anyone, even though she pointed a gun and made off with $185 from Dollar General.

"It was a bizarre and dangerous plan," he said.