Accused "Barefoot Bandit" Faces U.S. Judge

(CBS/AP)  Updated at 3:21 p.m. ET

The teenager dubbed the "Barefoot Bandit" by authorities will cool his heels in a Miami jail at least two more days while he sorts out which attorney will represent him.

At his first U.S. court appearance Wednesday since his arrest in the Bahamas, Colton Harris-Moore, 19, told U.S. Magistrate Judge Robert Dube he thought his mother had hired a lawyer but he didn't know the attorney's name.

"I'd like to speak with my mom first," said Harris-Moore, dressed in a standard tan prison jumpsuit, sandals and white socks. He added that he last spoke to his mother, Pam Kohler, "about a week ago."

"She said that she hired one," he said. "I have not met with him yet."

Dube set another hearing for Friday morning to determine Harris-Moore's legal representation, whether he should be released on bail and when he should return to Seattle to face an alleged two-year string of crimes. Harris-Moore is suspected in about 70 burglaries, thefts and other property crimes in eight states and British Columbia, including thefts of aircraft — one of which he allegedly flew from Indiana to the Bahamas.

Kohler has asked Seattle defense attorney John Henry Browne to represent her son in the criminal case, which currently involves the alleged theft of a plane in Idaho that was crashed in Washington state. Browne has said he will handle it if Harris-Moore agrees. Another attorney, O. Yale Lewis, is helping Kohler with media and entertainment requests.

Harris-Moore was deported by the Bahamas to the U.S. on Tuesday, shortly after pleading guilty to illegally entering the island nation east of Miami. Harris-Moore's long odyssey on the lam ended Sunday after police ended a high-speed boat chase by shooting out the vessel's engine.

Harris-Moore's attorney in the Bahamas, Monique Gomez, said the U.S. Embassy there would pay the teenager's $300 fine.

Authorities say he earned the "Barefoot Bandit" nickname by committing some crimes while shoeless, and in February he allegedly drew chalk-outline feet all over the floor of a grocery store during a burglary in Washington's San Juan Islands.

More on the "Barefoot Bandit"

Lawyer: "Barefoot Bandit" Doesn't Want Fame
"Barefoot Bandit" Set for Miami Court Appearance
Blog: Inside the Court with the "Barefoot Bandit"
Photos: "Barefoot Bandit" Arrested
"Barefoot Bandit" 's Alleged Life on Lam in Bahamas
"Barefoot Bandit" Gun Complicates Things: Lawyer
"Barefoot Bandit" Arrested, Ending 2-Year Run

Law enforcement officials escorted him on a commercial flight to Miami on Tuesday. The FBI took him off the plane and put him into a waiting car.

Harris-Moore was on the plane with Bahamian authorities as well as FBI agents, but he did not know the FBI agents were aboard, said John Gillies, FBI special agent in charge of the Miami office. The FBI did not have any authority to arrest Harris-Moore in the Bahamas and waited until he reached Miami to take him into custody, Gillies said.

In the Bahamas, the shackled teen smiled after the judge read the sentence. Bahamian police had earlier said he would face other charges including illegal weapons possession related to a string of break-ins and thefts during his weeklong hideout in the country.

Harris-Moore wore white sneakers without laces and kept his head down as armed officers escorted him to the courthouse. A police SWAT team stood by as authorities put up street barricades ahead of the hearing for the high-profile suspect.

His mother, Pam Kohler, seemed relieved.

"I'm really tired," Kohler said from her home on Camano Island, Wash. "Yes, I look forward to seeing him."

Asked what she planned to say to her son when she saw him, she said angrily, "What kind of question is that?" and hung up the phone.

His arrest came as a relief to people across rural Camano Island, where authorities say he learned to dodge police.

"There's a lot of relief throughout the community," real estate agent Mark Williams said. "I think the man's luck just wore out. You run through the woods long enough, you're going to trip over a log."

Harris-Moore told police in the Bahamas he came to the country, located off the Florida coast, because it has so many islands, airports and docks, according to an officer who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the case.

The teenager claimed he told islanders he was trying to get to Cuba so he could throw police off his trail, but he intended to make his way to the Turks and Caicos Islands southeast of the Bahamas, the officer said.

The suspect learned from the Internet that the British territory has a small police force and no marine defense force, according to the officer.

[bvst]

It is too bad that Colton couldn't have got some help somewhere from someone before all this happened. He has enjoyed his notoriety up to now , but now he faces living among very predatory men who wouldn't blink an eye to educate him in ways he wasn't prepared for . Life in prison isn't fun for a young man like him . Hope he knows how to protect himself.

[margroks]

Bail should be out considering his history of flight. I think he should be charged with everythign he's done and have to face the consequences. I also think his mother should be held accountable for the things he did while he was a minor and she was responsible for him. Her previous remarks, that she was glad he was safe and out of the US where he would be safe tell me she cared nothing for the people he victimized. He's a little creep who was armed at the time of his arrest and it's BS that he was really going to kill himself-he wouldn't have been wearing a bullet proof vest if that were the case. He was just trying to game the system, something he's no doubt done for years until he was in a position where he could escape his sentence and go back to a life of crime. Neither one of these people deserve any sympathy whatsoever.

[jtdev1]

Hmmmm, US Court System???

They are really going to screw him up.


He'll be facing a judge for the rest of his life. Just when he's done with one prison term, he'll be transfered to another state for them to take their turn with him.

I imagine well over 300 separate charges and No bail. I'm sure he'll spend at least 40+ years all together between all states.

US Court system loves to keep on grinding away.


I do think this kid needs some jail time, but not forever.