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'Baby Gabriel' mom to be extradited to AZ

Posted at 1:15 PM, Mar 31, 2016
and last updated 2016-04-01 14:32:34-04

Elizabeth Johnson, the mother of an infant commonly referred to as "Baby Gabriel," who vanished in 2009 and hasn't been seen since, was booked into jail in New Mexico on Thursday.

Johnson was booked into a Bernalillo County jail and is potentially facing four violations of her probation. She was arrested just after 9:00 a.m. on Thursday and arrived into jail around 12:00 p.m. near Albuquerque.

One of the violations is a trip she took to Arizona that was broadcast on social media and caught by social media sleuths who follow her posts. The woman she visited, who is now in jail herself, has a lengthy criminal history which is also a violation of Johnson’s probation.

The petition to revoke probation also says she failed to notify authorities of her November 2015 marriage.

The Maricopa County Adult Probation Office says the wheels are in motion to have Johnson extradited from New Mexico to Arizona, though a timeline isn’t clear yet.

The same attorney who represented Johnson during her trial, Marc Victor, is ready to defend her again.

"There's a tendency to treat people differently in high profile cases so I will do everything in my power to make sure she's treated the same way everyone else is treated," said Victor during an exclusive interview with ABC15. Victor also said he has spoken to Johnson recently but not about the probation violations.

Spokesman for the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office, Jerry Cobb, says the probation case has not yet been assigned.

Baby Gabriel’s family told ABC15 they hope Johnson will care enough about protecting her newfound life that maybe she’ll be willing to trade the secrets they are desperate to learn about her son who has never been found.

Johnson was freed from Perryville prison in Goodyear, Arizona in July 2014 after spending five years in jail.

In 2012, Johnson avoided what could have been a lengthy prison term of more than 20 years after a jury failed to reach a verdict on the most serious charge against her, kidnapping, instead convicting her of a lesser count of unlawful imprisonment.

The 29-year-old has been placed under supervision of the Maricopa County Adult Probation Department.

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