BY MAIRE O’NEILL
maire@losalamosreporter.com

Austin Cox, 27, of Los Alamos has been released from the Los Alamos Detention Center on electronic monitoring with pretrial probation conditions pending sentencing in February 2020.

Cox was arrested by Los Alamos Police Department in December 2018 and charged with 23 counts of criminal sexual penetration of a 13-16 year old girl, 3 counts of trafficking a controlled substance and 4 counts of contributing to the delinquency of a minor by providing methamphetamine three times and beer once to a person under the age of 18. He was bound over on the charges from Los Alamos Magistrate Court to First Judicial District Court.

On Nov. 20, a plea agreement reached by Asst. District Attorney Larissa Breen and Defense Attorney Michael Jones was signed by Judge Jason Lidyard. The agreement allowed Cox to plead guilty to one count of trafficking by distribution and one count of contributing to the delinquency of a minor. It agreement provides for dismissal of all the remaining charges as well as two counts of possession of methamphetamine from two other cases.

The agreement requires Cox to “undergo an evaluation prior to complete sentencing”. He will be given credit for presentence incarceration from Dec. 5, 2018 until the actual sentencing date. If he is placed on probation it is not to exceed five years. The agreement notes that the minimum sentence Cox is facing on the offenses charged is probation and the maximum is 11 ½ years and $15,000.

Sentencing is scheduled for Feb. 5, 2020.