Idaho woman who helped Boise hospital ambush perpetrators enters plea deal. What we know
BOISE – Another suspect connected to the ambush at Saint Alphonsus Regional Medical Center has pleaded guilty, according to court records.
In March, Skylar Meade, an Idaho man serving a minimum 10-year prison sentence at the state’s maximum security prison, and co-conspirator Nicholas Umphenour led what police called a “brazen” and “violent” attack at the Boise hospital to coordinate Meade’s escape from custody. The incident left three correctional officers injured.
The men, who knew each other from prison, led law enforcement on a 36-hour statewide manhunt and allegedly killed two people in North Idaho before being apprehended in Twin Falls. Both Meade and Umphehour have been sentenced to prison for their crimes in Ada County and now face first-degree murder charges in Nez Perce County.
Two other people, Tia Garcia and Tonia Huber, were charged with felonies related to aiding in the men’s escape. Garcia, of Twin Falls, has entered into a plea deal with the Ada County Prosecutor’s Office admitting to helping the men escape, according to a plea advisory obtained by the Idaho Statesman.
Shawn Kelly, a legal intern for the prosecutor’s office, previously said in court that Garcia picked up Umphenour from the Boise Airport three days before the incident and provided him with her vehicle to get away from police after the ambush. Kelley added that text messages between Garcia and Umphenour showed that Umphenour asked her to report her vehicle as stolen, which she did at around 3 a.m. March 20, an hour after the hospital shootout.
“This defendant is likely to be convicted given her admissions to knowing Meade and the video footage of Umphenour, along with the text messages between her and Umphenour less than 24 hours before the shooting that were indicating a plan to report the vehicle was stolen,” Kelley said at the time.
Under the terms of the 27-year-old’s agreement, Garcia has pleaded guilty to felony aiding and abetting escape and an additional persistent violator enhancement, a charge that can be tacked on by prosecutors when someone has been convicted of three felonies.
It adds at least another five years of prison time, with a maximum of life in prison. While prosecutors plan to ask 4th District Judge Nancy Baskin to sentence Garcia to 25 years in prison, with the possibility of parole after 10 years, Baskin isn’t bound by the deal. She technically could sentence Garcia to the maximum of life in prison.
Garcia has been in custody at the Ada County Jail on a $1 million bond since her arrest, according to online jail records. Her sentencing has been scheduled for 11 a.m. Dec. 20 at the Ada County Courthouse, online court records showed.
The other woman, 53-year-old Huber, is facing two felonies related to the escape, along with a possession charge, in Twin Falls County. The Filer resident’s next hearing is Nov. 18, where she is expected to enter a plea, online court records showed.