Suspended sentence for abducting her baby

A 23-year-old Hungry Horse woman was given a 10-year suspended sentence for her role in taking her one-year-old son from his grandparents’ home in April and heading out of state.

Bryndi Gibson pleaded guilty to felony counts of custodial interference and theft on Aug. 1 after reaching a plea agreement with the Flathead County Attorney’s Office.

Flathead County District Court Judge Ted Lympus sentenced Gibson per the plea agreement on Sept. 24. He also ordered her to pay $1,500 in restitution to the Montana Department of Corrections and an extradition fee of $500 to the state. She will be allowed to have contact with her child at the discretion of a probation officer.

Gibson’s boyfriend, Beau Blasius, 28, pleaded guilty to felony counts of custodial interference and burglary on Sept. 5. He faces up to 40 years in prison and a fine up to $150,000.

In a plea agreement, a felony charge of theft in this case and a felony charge of issuing bad checks in another case were dismissed. His sentencing hearing is scheduled for Oct. 17.

According to court documents, the couple lost custody of their child because of drug problems, and the baby was being raised by his grandparents in Kalispell. Blasius showed up at the grandparents’ home on April 27 asking for the baby. When the grandfather refused, Blasius said he’d be back.

Later that night, Flathead County sheriff’s deputies responded to the grandparents’ house after someone had used a large rock to smash through an outside door and then kicked in an upstairs bedroom door. The baby was missing, and an Amber Alert was issued.

Deputies soon learned that Blasius and Gibson had been seen loading a white pickup truck with their belongings earlier that same day. They also learned that Gibson had sold her car one day earlier, and deputies met with a man who reported his 1994 white Chevy S-10 missing. The man said he had loaned the truck to the couple in the past, but not this time.

Police in Fife, Wash., soon reported they had located the stolen truck. When questioned, Blasius allegedly admitted taking the baby from its crib.

Blasius was also charged with issuing 24 bad checks totaling $1,165 on a Glacier Bank account from November 2002 through March 2013. The checks were mostly used at restaurants, convenience stores and casinos, including the Back Room Restaurant and the Blue Moon Nite Club.