Eureka woman changes plea to guilty

Eureka woman Austin Loomis appeared in Montana 19th Judicial District Court on April 9 to plead guilty to felony custodial interference.

If Judge Matt Cuffe follows the plea agreement, Loomis would receive a two year suspended and deferred sentence with supervised probation and conditions still to be set through a pre-sentence investigation.

On January 22, Loomis and Micah Gallegos were both arraigned on charges of custodial interference in relation to a January 3 incident that took place in Eureka. The couple each faced up to 10 years and $50,000 in fines.

Gallegos reached an earlier plea agreement and was sentenced to a two year deferred sentence March 26.

During the last week of December, 2017, the Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services placed a minor child of the defendants in protective care, according to a probable cause affidavit from Deputy Lincoln County Attorney Jeffrey Zwang. The child was taken from Gallegos, the father.

On Jan. 3, Child Protection Specialist Kayla Friss was present for a scheduled visitation with both parents in Eureka.

According the affidavit, Gallegos and Loomis told Friss they had not been formally notified of any action affecting Loomis’ parental rights, and that the two intended to leave with the child.

When Friss said she had the paperwork in her vehicle, the couple responded that they would be gone before she could retrieve it.

Despite repeated verbal warnings from Friss, the couple left with their child, according to the affidavit. When Friss saw them driving away, she said she did not see the child properly restrained in a child safety seat.

After several hours, the parents were located separately and arrested. The child was located with Loomis at a residence where she had been staying.