Barefoot Bandit Due in Miami Court, Wants to Change His Life?
MIAMI (CBS/AP) American teen Colton Harris-Moore, called the "Barefoot Bandit" by police, will make his first court appearance Wednesday afternoon in a Miami federal courtroom since being deported from the Bahamas Tuesday, where he pleaded guilty to minor offenses.
PICTURES: Barefoot Bandit on the Run
According to a televised interview with Harris-Moore's Bahamian attorney, Monique Gomez, the troubled teen wants to turn his life around and claimed he never wanted the following his crimes generated.
"He says that if the had come from a stable home he may not have done the things he did," she told "Good Morning America." "He said to me he intends to change his life."
Authorities and victims of the "Barefoot Bandit" have long suggested that his mother, Pamela Kohler, is at least partly to blame for his alleged behavior. Harris-Moore's first conviction for stolen property came when he was 12-years-old.
On Tuesday, the lanky 6-foot-5-inch teen pleaded guilty to illegally entering the Bahamas and was fined $300. The US Embassy paid the fine.
Harris-Moore was accompanied on the plane with Bahamian officials and FBI agents, but the teenager was unaware that the FBI agents were aboard, said John Gillies, FBI special agent had head of the Miami office. According to Gillies, the FBI did have the right to arrest the teen while in the Bahamas, but later took him into custody once they reached Miami.
The 19-year-old is suspected in a near two-year crime-binge that spanned at least eight states and Canada. Harris-Moore is accused of burglarizing homes, stealing cars, powerboats and at least five planes before authorities caught up with the elusive outlaw Sunday following a high-speed boat chase.
Authorities say he earned the "Barefoot Bandit" moniker by committing some crimes without shoes, and in February he allegedly covered the floor of a grocery store with chalk-outlined feet during a burglary in Washington's San Juan Islands.
It is likely that Harris-Moore, a Washington state native, will to be taken to Seattle where he was indicted, but details of when remain unclear.
Complete "Barefoot Bandit" Coverage on Crimesider.
