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Balloon Boy's Father Swears It Wasn't A Hoax
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He pleaded guilty in court, but the father in the notorious Balloon Boy case says he just copped a plea to protect his family -- especially his wife, who feared deportation.
Richard Heene of Fort Collins, Colo., tells Larry King Friday that he really did believe his 6-year-old son Falcon climbed into a homemade balloon Oct. 15 and floated off.
"We had searched the house, high and low," Heene tells King, choking back tears during a taped interview for "Larry King Live" airing on CNN. "I knew he was in the craft. ... In my mind there was no other place."
Authorities were not convinced.
Richard and Mayumi Heene pleaded guilty to a felony count of falsely influencing authorities. Heene tells King he had to plead guilty lest Mayumi, a Japanese citizen, get deported if convicted of a more serious charge
"I'm not disputing the fact that I did have to plead guilty, and when I say have to, I had to do it to save my family and my wife," Heene tells King. "The threat of deportation was imminent."
"It doesn't matter whether he says it's not a hoax," Linda Jensen, a spokeswoman for the Larimer County District Attorney's Office, tells NBC News. "He pleaded guilty and he has a felony conviction because of it."
Richard Heene was sentenced to 90 days in jail Dec. 23 and begins serving his sentence Monday. Mayumi Heene was sentenced to 20 days in jail. She'll start serving her time after her husband completes his jail sentence.
Both of them were also sentenced to four years' probation. During that time, they are not allowed to profit from the incident.
Talking with Larry King doesn't violate that provision, Heene tells NBC News. "My motivation is to simply clear up my name, then do my time and get back to my family," he says. "That's all I'm after."
It was a Larry King interview that landed the Heenes in legal problems in the first place. Falcon, who was actually hiding in the family attic while the country held its breath thinking he was in a runaway balloon, blurted out during an earlier King interview that "we did this for the show."
Heene tries to explain that to King. He says a Japanese cameraman asked Falcon to show him how he got into the attic for his TV show. "That's why Falcon answered that," Heene says.
Prosecutors doubt it. They tell NBC News that Heene was scheming to pitch a reality series about madcap experiments and inventions. With no deals coming through, they claim, he used the Balloon Boy incident as a publicity stunt.
"The evidence against Mr. Heene and Mayumi at this point is really overwhelming," Larimer County Sheriff Jim Alderden tells Larry King. "There's no doubt in my mind that this thing was a hoax.
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ReaderComments (Page 1 of 1)
1-08-2010 @ 3:33PM
toska said...another idiotic family what i dont understand what are the looking for with scams like that , the got cought , the father should go to jail for at least 5 years , how many idiots we have living in this country , poor education , kids have to go to school till the are 18 years of age , adults , the should be working at that age , and here the are still going to school like a 8 year old , and when the are done with school the still dident learn many things , we have the worst education here in this country , teachers who are not quallified to teach teaching 18 year olds , in germany , when we are 14 years of age we are done with school i went in when i was just 4 years old , and done at 14 and you still have plenty of time to enjoy childhood but you have an education that will last a life time , we have regular school and high school included in to one education , how many so to speak grduates over here still cant read or write , some dont even kow who is president at this time ,
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1-09-2010 @ 2:42PM
Julie said...Where is the Children's Aid on this? Is there such a thing in USA? I think these parents are not fit to raise these children, especially when they are performing dangerous things in their backyard. The backyard looks to be dedicated to his wacky experiments, not a family environment.
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1-09-2010 @ 11:16PM
melvin said...my favorite part is the let them spend the holidays together why are they so great to not have to go directly to jail. and the broken english crap she knows how to sign and cash the checks you all get from tv and you local welfare chapter .
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