MISSOULA — A Missoula man who tried to make his girlfriend cut a tattoo of his name off her chest and then beat her unconscious has been given a deferred sentence, even though the judge said he doesn’t think the defendant can remain law abiding for three years.
District Judge Dusty Deschamps sentenced Joe Rene Gallegos Tuesday, giving him credit for 86 days he’s spent in jail since his arrest in late July, the Missoulian reported.
Gallegos, 43, pleaded guilty to felony partner assault and assault with a weapon. A charge of intimidation with physical harm was dismissed as part of a plea agreement.
Prosecutors said Gallegos and his girlfriend were arguing over a Facebook post made by Gallegos’ ex-wife in late July and that when the girlfriend said she was leaving him, Gallegos said he would have snipers kill her. He handed her a box cutter and told her to cut the tattoo off her chest or he would get it off with a bullet, court records said.
The woman tried to cut the tattoo, but stopped because of the pain. Gallegos then beat her until she blacked out and threw her into a closet, charging documents said.
Gallegos has two previous domestic violence convictions in Texas and California, prosecutors said.
“It doesn’t look like there’s hardly been a year in your adult life where you haven’t done some crime or another,” Deschamps said, in ordering Gallegos to register as a violent offender, stay away from the victim and wear a GPS monitoring device. Conditions of the three-year deferred sentence include staying away from alcohol, Illegal drugs, guns and gambling.
“I don’t expect that you’ll make it on probation,” the judge said. “And if you don’t, and come back, with the pattern that you’ve established so far, I’m going to send you away for a very long time.”