Crime and Courts

Montana woman pleads guilty to criminal endangerment after baby ingests meth

Posted: Feb 20, 2013 4:41 PM by Simone DeAlba - MTN News

GREAT FALLS - A woman pleaded guilty in a Great Falls courtroom on Wednesday to charges of endangering the welfare of a child and criminal endangerment after her 9-month-old son ingested methamphetamine.

Brandi Rae Bargas appeared in court in August after her 9-month-old son was taken to the hospital with near-deadly levels of methamphetamine in his body.

Lab results showed that the amount of meth ingested was among the highest ever seen in a child that survived.

Bargas's sentencing is set for April 3.

According to court documents, in April 2012, Bargas was eating dinner when her child spilled her drink on the floor and then licked his hands.

The child then began acting strangely. Court documents state that Bargas recorded some of the behavior on her cell phone. The video showed the child "lying on the floor and pivoting around on the floor with his head in one place and his body moving in a circle around it."

Bargas told police that she then called her relatives for advice. One of them told her to take the baby to the hospital.

Court documents say the child was screaming and had tremors in his legs and hands at the hospital.

The Montana Department of Health & Human Services reported that initial lab results showed that the level of the drug in the baby's system was the highest that health officials had ever seen where the child survived.

Court documents state that Bargas initially told police that she suspected the baby ingested the drug from meth residue on the floor of the apartment left by former tenants.

Bargas then admitted to police that's she's a recovering addict and that the last time she had used meth was 40 days before the incident.

The baby recovered and was released to the custody of a grandmother.