The judge who set him free earlier this year heard initial arguments Monday morning in Lincoln County District Court that could determine Caleb Covey’s future.

Flathead County District Judge Amy Eddy listened to the respective cases of Deputy County Attorney Jeff Zwang and Scott B. Johnson as prosecutors seek revocation on the defendant’s 20-year suspended sentence that she delivered June 24.

Covey, 39, a Yaak resident with a criminal record dating back more than a decade and including several violent offenses, has been locked up in the county jail since Nov. 10 when he allegedly broke into the home of a woman and assaulted her.

Eddy set an adjudicatory hearing for 1:30 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 23, when Covey will learn if he will be headed to the state hospital in Warm Springs.

Johnson, who is representing Covey while the defendant seeks to secure a private attorney, said he attempted to speak to Covey, but was rebuffed.

When judge Eddy asked Covey if he understood what was happening, he said he’d seen the court documents, but, “I can’t seem to make sense of them.”

Covey’s sentence was the result of his wild chase Jan. 13, 2024 from law enforcement officers from two states and three counties.

Covey pleaded guilty, but mentally ill, April 7 in court to seven counts of felony criminal mischief and one felony count of criminal endangerment. Other charges were dismissed following the April 3 plea deal between Zwang and Sean Hinchey, Covey’s attorney at the time.

Covey originally faced decades of confinement at the state hospital in Warm Springs, but the sad state of affairs there played a large role in Eddy’s decision to not give him time in custody. The beleaguered facility has been the focus of many media accounts detailing its failings that included the deaths of a number of patients.

“It’s been 18 months since the offense and things have changed,” the judge said at the June hearing. “If I sentence him to custody, he’ll sit in the county jail until his placement in the state hospital. Then, sooner or later, he’ll be released. What I don’t want is for his medication to be interrupted and create more issues.”

Zwang argued that despite Covey’s current mental health diagnosis, he deserved time in the Warm Springs facility.

“In 2018, he was harassing his ex-wife when a police pursuit occurred, he’s had multiple pursuits with law enforcement, he’s a clear danger to the public and law enforcement and he’s caused tens of thousands of dollars of damage to citizen’s property,” Zwang argued. “He’s terrorized and endangered this community for a number of years and they deserve a break from this defendant’s actions.”

Covey attorney Nate Holloway argued for a probationary sentence. That argument included the fact that Covey lives with his parents, Larry and Pam Covey, and works on their property.

“His mother, Pam Covey, was a nurse and she closely monitors the defendant’s daily activities and prepares and administers his medications every day,” Holloway wrote.

But in court documents filed with the sentence revocation, it appears the home situation isn’t going well.

State Probation and Parole officer Alice Rhodes filed an affidavit Nov. 17 in district court detailing Covey’s alleged probation violations.

One condition of Covey’s probation was sticking to his prescribed medications, but he is alleged to have obtained Wellbutrin and began abusing it. Dr. Michael Breslow, a physician at Northwest Community Health Center, expressed his concern in an Oct. 21 call to Rhodes about how dangerous Covey is when he is on Wellbutrin.

Nov. 10, Dr. Breslow, in a text conversation with Rhodes, said “as long as he is taking bupropion, his antipsychotic medication will not be effective.”

Wellbutrin is the brand name for bupropion and, according to the Mayo Clinic, is used to treat major depressive disorder and to prevent seasonal affective disorder, sometimes called autumn-winter seasonal depression. 

Covey was also not permitted to knowingly have contact with probationers, parolees, prison inmates or persons in custody of any law enforcement agency with prior approval from Probation and Parole outside work, treatment or self-help group setting. But Covey is alleged to have spoken to Misty Surman, a county jail inmate, about how to communicate without getting caught and so he could get her one of her prescriptions.

Rhodes recommended that Covey be committed to the state Department of Public Health and Human Services for a total of 25 years as a result of convictions in the 2024 police chase and a 2018 case in which he was also involved in a police chase.

“The defendant needs to be in a structured setting due to public safety concerns,” she wrote. 

Judge Eddy also issued a new order that Covey have no contact with his mother, Pam. It was revealed in Monday’s hearing she drove him to the residence where the alleged assault earlier this month. 

If Caleb Covey is able to post $200,000 bail, he must report to Probation and Parole and set an appointment with Dr. Breslow.