Balloon Boy Parents to Plead Guilty

Charges Formally Filed; Plea to Misdemeanor Reportedly Part of Settlement To Avoid Deportation of Mayumi Heene

(CBS)  Richard and Mayumi Heene will plead guilty Friday to charges stemming from last month's Balloon Boy hoax, the couple's lawyer said.

The Larimer and Jackson, Colo. county District Attorney offices formally filed charges Thursday.

Mayumi Heene will plead guilty to falsely reporting to authorities, a misdemeanor. Richard Heene's charge - attempting to influence a public official - is a felony. The deal stipulates a probation sentence for both charges.

The deal avoids more serious felony charges against Mayumi Heene, such as perjury, that could result in her deportation to Japan.

According to the DA office's release, Mayumi Heene could face six months in county jail and a fine of $50 to $750. The penalty for Richard Heene could be 2-to-6 years in prison and a fine of $2,000 to $500,000.

"Upon reviewing the evidence, arguably, Mayumi could have possibly ended up being deported and Richard could have proceeded to trial and had a good chance at an acquittal," lawyer David Lane said. "This, however, would have put the family at grave risk of seeing a loving, caring, compassionate wife and mother ripped from the family and deported. That was not an acceptable risk, thus these pleas."

CBS News legal analyst Andrew Cohen said the deal "makes sense for both sides, especially given the cost of a trial and the risk that the mother involved here would have been deported and separated from her children. So I’m not surprised at all that this ends with a whimper and not a bang."

Cohen notes the judge doesn't have to accept the plea deal and could alter its terms.

According to authorities, the couple staged the disappearance of their son, 6-year-old Falcon Heene, who they reported had floated away in a homemade balloon - an incident that was captured on national television as the balloon's journey spanned nearly 50 miles at an altitude of around 8,000 feet.

No one was found in the balloon when it landed, prompting fears that the boy had fallen out. However, he was later found safe at home and told authorities he was hiding in an attic.

The story quickly began to unravel in subsequent television interviews, in which Falcon said he was hiding out "for a show." Associates of Richard Heene, who appeared on ABC's "Wife Swap," began detailing the self-described scientist's ambitions for a reality show of his own.

[gosstom]

Considering the time, energy and anguish spent on this hoax, there should be no question that that female should be sent back to Japan.

[guzelvis]

Balloon Boy's parents propose a new show-- starring themselves! Biting satire @ http://bit.ly/HeeneShow

[cattiej]

This Ballon Dad has a head as big as an air balloon. So, the mom's an illegal from Japan. Well, so we don't have to worry about anymore of these expensive pranks, send them all to Japan. I'll bet the Japanese government will put his butt in jail if he trys anything like this in Japan. So, my comment, it send them all overseas to Japan...either that or fine them for the total cost of what it cost the local and other governments to chase down this "balloon trick", give him say 10-15 years to pay a certain amount every month, to remind him and her that this wasn't funny, it was STUPID. If they don't want to pay back the money, send her back to Japan, and the kids and Dad can go along with her..Get them out of our country. They are just stupid jerks out to make a buck, we have thousands who are collecting off the taxpayers, these people were stupid enough to come forward and SHOW how stupid they are...

[rabbitidea]

The best punishment for this family would be to not ever interview them again. He wants his family broadcast everywhere. Forbid any newspaper, magazine, or TV programs use their faces anywhere. Have social services check on them monthly. I feel afraid of his restitution on his wife or child. He really needs to be monitored.

[CompletelyFrustrated]

I agree with you this jerk wasted huge amounts of EMS resources and shut down an international airport!

He should be forces to reimburse the municipality for his publicity stunt!

[gangesdak]

What the baloon boy's parents did was just a prank. Let them go. What the guy did at Fort Hood is a real crime. And this guy would probably get not more than five years, because it will certainly be proved that he is a disturbed individual. Justice!

[canislupus16]

gangesdak, I assume you are kidding. You're comparing apples and oranges. Your logic would insist that since a burglar's crime pales compared with Hasan's crime at Fort Hood that the burglar should go free as well.

The Heenes committed real crimes based on at least local and probably federal law as well, according to statutes currently in place.

They caused the expenditure of massive amounts of public money (that would be taxpayers' dollars) and the utilizaiton - and DIVERSION - of emergency services resources in efforts to track and find a child presumed to be in grave danger. What if those emergency services had been needed, and unavailable because they were diverted, to address another real crisis situation? You might think, what if you or a member of your family needed those services which had been unnecessarily diverted elsewhere?

Then there was the disturbance of routine airport operations at DIA due to the perceived need to re-route air traffic. Surely there was a cost in both public and private dollars there.

What the Heenes did was no childhood prank - childish yes. In my opinion, they got off way too easily; there should be a far greater criminal sanction. And on the civil end, they should be forced to pay back every penny they caused to be spent on their little escapade.

[Fareed17]

Sean Hannity reported on this "Story" moment by exciting moment as "NEWS". He even manager to get Robert Bork on the show to discuss the Saga gone wild. Sean has yet to denounce the Lead Baloon Story he latched on to as a Hot Scoop that turned out to be a Shovel of Cow Dung.
It is one thing to get busted for running a scam but another to pass it along as Truth and not admit the mistake. No wonder Fox Nukes comes under so much distain.

[PJM1968]

ALL of the cable networks were all over this story, not just FOX. Don't be disingenuous just because you don't like FOX.

[supergryan]

I'm happy for the children that they are avoiding jail time. A lot of people still think they are very strange:

http://www.polladium.com/poll.php?poll_id=347&location_id=1

[steveherb1]

Tend to think they hit the panic button calling 911 but it became out of their control once community and authorities step in. The Ticker is to remove a persons rights to have their day in court by threating them with stiffer penalties.

[steveherb1]

Slight retraction to the comment- I forgot about the video they made. Never the less, you should be allowed your day in court without threats of increased penalties.

[melchg07]

People wanted change?........HERE IS OUR CHANCE!!!! TERM LIMIT BILL!!!


Citizen Legislature Act


Summary:

This resolution provides for consideration of two joint
resolutions which propose amendments to the constitution limiting
the number of terms members of the Senate and the House of
Representatives can serve. The first joint resolution
(identical to H.J.Res. 38 as introduced in the 103rd Congress)
limits the number of Senate terms to two and the number of House
terms to six. The second joint resolution (identical to H.J.Res.
160 as introduced in the 103rd Congress) also limits Senators to
two terms, but it limits members of the House to three terms.
Under the terms of this resolution, the joint resolution with the
text of H.J.Res. 38 will be debated first and the first amendment
in order will be a substitute consisting of H.J.Res. 160.


Background:

The idea of limiting the tenure of elected officials has recurred
through our history, but it has become more popular in the last
few years. In 1992, 14 states passed initiatives limiting the
tenure of federal legislators. Two of these laws, however, have
been challenged and found unconstitutional in court. The U.S.
Supreme Court will review the ruling by the Arkansas Supreme
Court. Since there is a chance the high court will uphold the
state court's ruling, a constitutional amendment may be necessary
to limit congressional tenure.

[bckytx]

What does your rambling have to do with this story?